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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26256931">ones upon a time</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sunshine3star/pseuds/Sunshine3star'>Sunshine3star</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>The fairytales and the truth. [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Original Work</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Birth, Drug Use, Injury, Kidnapping, Mpreg, Multi, Omega Verse, Panic, Premature Birth, Sick baby, Sickness, Slavery, Traveling, Violence, mentally ille persons, physical and mentally abuse, polygami, rape/non con</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-09-02</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-11-11</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 03:47:11</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Explicit</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>28</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>77,894</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26256931</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sunshine3star/pseuds/Sunshine3star</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Growing up in a small village, Kain keeps to himself, not feeling the need to change anything.<br/>But when that change is forced upon him, what will happen to him then?</p>
<p>They say life is a fairytale, if you let it be, filled with new experiences and mysteries around each corner.<br/>Kain is about to find out if that's true. </p>
<p>edit 23/9: made a new summary, again, since I didn't like the first ones.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Original Female Character/Original Male Character, Original Male Character/Original Male Character, Other Relationship Tags to Be Added</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>The fairytales and the truth. [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1907626</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>20</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Chapter 1</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Hello guys!<br/>Here are my second story in the omega verse, and I hope you all will like it!</p>
<p>English is not my native language and grammarly is my beta, so if you find any errors please tell me about them!</p>
<p>The work is more or less done, I just need to look over the last chapters one more time, and I hope to post a chapter twice a week.<br/>This will probably be a series, I have all these ideas in my head already.</p>
<p>EDIT: changed font..</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <em>1</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Ones upon a time, there was a little boy.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>He lived a happy little life, with his happy little family, with everything he could ever imagine.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Well...</em>
</p><p>
  <em>The boy was not so little, the happy life not that happy, the family not that small, and there were a lot of things he could imagine that he didn’t have.</em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>Ones upon a time, there was a world filled with trees and rivers and mountains and everything else a world can be filled with.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Sun and rain and snow and fire, flowers and thorns and pebbles and dirt.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>And all around in this mighty world, there were creatures of all kind living and sharing the space.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Small hummingbirds in the meadows, huge whales in the deep seas and everything in between.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Dragons flew high in the sky, breathing fire hot and strong.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Trolls walked the forest, using small trees as toothpicks after having a deer for a midday snack.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Witches lived among the humans, using them as their toys, doing with them whatever they want.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Their laughter heard over broken human’s cries.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>In the sea, thousands of piranhas ruled, eating everything they could catch.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>There were monsters everywhere, dangers in every corner, making the humans shiver in fear.</em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>Well…</em>
</p><p>
  <em>There were never any dragons, no troll or laughing witches -, and the piranhas was few and far between.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>But still, that left the most dangerous monster behind.</em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>The not so little boy, in fact not a boy at all, but a young man called Kain, is about to start the story of his life, his magic fairytale.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Well…</em>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Chapter 2</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>2</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Kain was 19 years old and fed up. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He was living with his father and seven younger siblings, at their small farm outside the village of Gothr in the kingdom of Mara.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>They had a good life, enough food on the table, and they kept warm trough the cold winter.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He had a few childhood friends, boys he ran around in the forest with as a child.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>In the summer they had spent days at the lake, swimming and playing in the water.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>In the autumn, the boys went hunting and came home with mushrooms and berries alongside rabbits and other small animals.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>In the winter, they made snowmen, they went skating on the lake and sometimes, late at night, cold hands would find warmth beneath another’s coat.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Or at least, the ones that bothered with that stuff.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He didn’t.</span>
</p>
<p>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>Now, he mostly saw them at the pub, or when running into them in the village.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He knew some of them still went out hunting, both animals for food, and women to start a family.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Somehow, they had drifted apart, and he didn’t quite care.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Hunting didn’t appeal to him anymore, and the woman didn’t interesse him.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Seasons came and went, everyone had to grow up sometime.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>But he still called them his friends, and when he came around to meet them at the pub, he had a good time.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>In the summers, they met after long days of hard work, taking care of everything the nature around them could provide them with.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The forest gave them all kinds of animals to hunt, plenty of wild plants to eat, and firewood to keep them warm at winter.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Fields upon fields gave them grains of different kinds, giving them food for both human and live stock. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>In the fall, harvests of all kind kept them warm during the day, preparing and stocking up for the winter giving everybody more than enough to do. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The winters was cold and dull around here, and people flocked to the pub to drink and talk.</span>
</p>
<p>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>But when winter turned to spring, life became anything but dull.</span>
</p>
<p>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>In the spring, everything comes back to life, trees and grass and animal alike.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>And, in the first spring after you turn 16, if you are one of the lucky few to be an omega, you have your first heat.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Guess who was that lucky…</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>You never know if you will present as an omega, before you one day wakes up with a fever, and soon you are lost in a delirium where the only thing on you mind is sex.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He shuddered when he thought about that week, so he tried to not think about it at all.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Outside of the biyearly heat, being an omega is not bad, it just means you can carry children even if you are a boy.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>You become stronger than the others, you heal faster, and you can hear, smell, and see better than the rest.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>And you can carry children even if you are a boy…</span>
</p>
<p>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>It’s not that he hates being an omega and the thought that he can carry a child doesn’t make him nauseous.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>It’s not that people treat you differently if you are an omega, or at least not worse than everybody else.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The few omegas in their village live their lives just like the not- omegas do.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>It’s just that…</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Some of the not-omegas turns out to be alphas.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Alphas are stronger than even omegas, they heal faster, runs faster and all around are more than omegas.</span>
</p>
<p>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>This last spring Jack, the butcher’s son, found out he was an alpha.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Making him the only alpha under the age of fifty in Groht.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>And in Jacks mind, since he was the alpha and Kain was the omega, they of course were a match made in heaven!</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Not.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>So, Kain was fed up.</span>
</p>
<p>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>The boy would not let him be, no matter how many times Kain said thanks but no thanks.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Jack just smiled, like his words meant nothing.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>As if a puppy following you around was a good thing…</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He tries to live his life as he normally would, but it seems like everywhere he went, Jack was already there.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The smell of strong spices will forever stay in his nose.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The enhanced sight and hearing were not that hard to get used to, the smell of everything a little harder.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Flowers and herbs were one thing, but sweat, decay and strong emotions worse.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The personal sent everybody had was a different story, it was like it screamed “this is me!” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Especially if the person is an alpha or an omega, that sent could dominate a whole room.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Kain tried to block them out, just letting them blend in with the rest.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Using sent to check what people was feeling at every instance was not something he wanted, and something frown upon.</span>
</p>
<p>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>He and a couple of his friends goes for a beer at the pub, Jack is there talking to his father about finding his own home.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Jack isn’t old enough to drink beer, so he has a glass of orange juice in his hands.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He is going to take over as the butcher after his father, but the village is small and his father strong as a bull, so he doesn’t really have a steady job at the moment.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Definitely ready for his own home.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Not.</span>
</p>
<p>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>Old man Joel need a helping hand getting all his hay into the barn, Jack focuses more on showing of his muckles then doing the job.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>It’s not warm enough outside to lose your shirt for other reasons than that.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He can feel sweat running down his own neck, but you don’t see him running around half naked, do you?</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Shaking his head, he turns around, so he doesn’t have to look at the boy. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Bulging muscles is overrated anyway.</span>
</p>
<p>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>And at a trip to the store with his youngest sister, so she could by herself a new ribbon for her hair, having earned her first coin weeding the carrots, the boy is talking to Sid the owner. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>They seem to be talking about jewelry.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Probably rings for a mating ceremony.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Like he wants to mate that child, spend the rest of his life with him ordering him around.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>If you got married, you could get a divorce, like the schoolteacher miss Jane had done, but a mating is for life.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Not that he would have married Jack ether.</span>
</p>
<p>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>He is just so fed up.</span>
</p>
<p>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>The only place where he feels free from Jack the wannabe mate, is in his garden.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Filled with plants and herbs and bees and peace, his own secret world.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Well, it’s not exactly secret, but nobody would disturb him here.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Not even his father would risk his fury if even a single leaf is broken.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>It’s like nobody cares about the plants the way he does.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He is the only one worthy enough to take care of them, nurturing them and giving them the love they need and deserve.</span>
</p>
<p>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>His mother thought him the love of plants, and the magic it can bring to the world.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The way some dark green leaf would take the pain away when he fell and scrubbed his knee.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The way the strong smelly goo made it easier to breath when he was sick. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The light green and sweet-smelling leaves she used to make tee of, making it easier to sleep after a nightmare.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>And all the other times plants were magic.</span>
</p>
<p>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>At least, he had called it magic, hanging on to every word his mother said, wanting to learn as much as he could.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Until the day when his mother got sick, and the magic of plants failed her...</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He stopped believing it was magic then.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>And it was not before his youngest sister got sick, just a baby at the time, struggling to catch her breath, that he ones again ventured out to his mother’s garden. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>That was years ago now, and even if he knows better than to believe in magic, the power of healing the plants have is almost some kind of magic.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Witch would make him a magician?</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Shaking his head, he leaves his heaven when his sister yells that dinner is ready.</span>
</p>
<p>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>He spends a lot of time in his garden, weeding and watering, grooming and making sure every plant has what it needs to thrive.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He harvests herbs to dry them or making pastes and mixtures of them. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He sells his products to people in the village when they need it, making himself some coins.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>But mostly, he just walks around enjoying the smells and sounds in his little heaven.</span>
</p>
<p>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>One evening, when he leaves it to go back to the house, he stops to stretch out his back after spending to much time bent over weeding and gets captivated by his surrounding. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Across the yard, the yellow wheat is dancing in the sun, like kids dancing around.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Further back, sunlight reflects from the water, making the river look like broken mirrors.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The old forest, dark and dense, goes all the way back to the white mountains in the far distance. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>With the sun warming his face, he have to smile. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>That forest is the one reputedly home to a family of trolls.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Not that he believes in those children’s stories. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Anymore.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He really loves this place.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>If only Jack would back of…</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>His stomach makes a loud noise, reminding him of the dinner he can smell wafting out of the house.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Mmm…</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Stew.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He loves stew.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>With so many sisters in the house, there was always good food on the tables, but stew had always been his favorite.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>It reminded him of his late mother.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Giving the mountains a last glance, he walks inside. </span>
</p>
<p>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>It’s early autumn, and he have taken refuge in the pub.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>His oldest sister is getting married in the spring, and with being the only son, it was too much… noise going on in the house.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>There is apparently so much to do, to plan, to laugh about and squealing about.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He loves his sisters, but sometimes they’re just too much.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>So here he is, sitting in the corner booth, nursing a beer in peace.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>His friends were busy tonight, but he likes it alone.</span>
</p>
<p>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>Looking around, he can see the usual group of people sitting where they usually sit.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Sid and Buck talking shop as usual, how they could spend so much time taking about caned food, rolls of fabric imported from the west and how much work it is to make a shovel he will never know.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Olaf Lumberjack is nursing his daily beer scowling at it as if it had done him wrong, and Gray and Garry is slurring in their corner proving that the beers in front of them is not their first.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Or fifth.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>As usual.</span>
</p>
<p>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>Miss Jane and Miss Abigale, is sitting at the small table close to the fireplace, warms ciders in their hands.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The two of them was going to have a hard time this winter if they are that cold already now.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Miss Abigale came to the village in the spring, he thinks she is a seamstress, although why people would pay for someone to sew their stuff in stead of doing it them self, he doesn’t understand.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Some people are just lazy, he guesses.</span>
</p>
<p>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>There is not a lot of strangers coming through this town, no major roads nearby.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Just the odd traveler looking for a place to crash for the night, or traveling sales men trying to sell their goods. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>At the bar, two men he has never seen before, chats with the bar maid. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>They look like some big burly alphas, with long dark and greasy hair and dirty hands.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Probably someone Jack was dreaming of becoming.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He can’t pinpoint what kind of visitors they are.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Normally, the people looking for somewhere to crash travels alone, but they look to shabby to be successfully selling anything.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>One of them is flirting with the maid, while the other slowly looks around like he is scanning the place.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Ones or twice their eyes meet, and even if the eyes don’t linger, the hairs in the back of his neck raises.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He doesn’t like them.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Something tells him that they are up to no good.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Luckily, the duo leaves way before he does.</span>
</p>
<p>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>He gets lost in the memory of the last encounter he had with Jack, when his father sent him to the butcher for some meat.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The boy had stood behind the counter and gave him a blinding smile when he entered.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>And he is sure that the amount of meat he got, didn’t match what he paid for it.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Like he was bribing him, or something.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Grumbling, he asks for another beer, and spends the rest of the night thinking of how to get Jack to back off.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>
    
  </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>It’s first when the barman shouts that he is closing, that he gets up.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Or at least, he tries to.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The floor is unsteady, like he is on a boat...</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Maybe he had one to many beers.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Shaking his head, he tries to sober up a bit.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>If he comes home this drunk, his father will never let him forget it.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Slightly staggering down the road, he doesn’t notice the cold eyes following him.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Or the man hiding in the shadow, ready to grab him when he walks past.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He just feels the pain searing through his head before everything goes black.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>The world is still unsteady, his head is hurting, and it smells like a barn.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Like horses and feces and sweat...</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Did he go to sleep in old man Joel’s barn last night?</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Why would he do that?</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He can’t remember much after he left the pub.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Ow.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>His head is really hurting, and the world is not just unsteady, - it moves under him!</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Slowly, he opens his eyes, instantly regretting it when the sun blinds him.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Something is not right.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Taking a couple of deep breaths, to try to calm his stomach, he tries opening his eyes again.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>It doesn’t hurt as much as the first time, so he blinks trying to focus on his surroundings.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The first thing he sees, are big trees moving past him.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Or, wait, it’s he that moves past the trees!</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>But he is sitting down?</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Turning his head, he sees that he is sitting in a wagon, and that he isn’t alone.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Tylor, the only other omega in his age from the village, and three other boys is slumped in the wagon with him.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“hey, boy! You’re awake already?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Looking the other way, he sees one of the men from the bar grinning at him.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“just sit back and enjoy the peace and calm, ones we are back there will not be more peace to get!”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Laughing, the man turns around.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“we’ll be there in time for dinner!”</span>
</p>
<p>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>He’s been kidnapped.</span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Pleace tell me if there is any typos or other things wrong!</p>
<p>I would love to get comments and kudos...</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Chapter 3</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>3.<br/>
He’s been kidnapped.</p><p>Slumping down, he mentally shakes his head.<br/>
He saw them at the bar, thought they looked shady, and then he walked home from the bar alone and drunk.<br/>
Normally, he would never drink that much, and after Jack started to follow him around like a puppy, he constantly watched his surroundings.<br/>
Fucking Jack.<br/>
If he had just let him alone, this would never have happen!<br/>
He has to find a way to escape, if he could just calm down so he could think.<br/>
Taking deep breaths, he blinks the black spots away from his eyes.</p><p>After getting control of his breathing, he looks around himself to try to find out where they are.<br/>
The trees around them is huge and old, almost blocking the sun even if they are traveling on a well used dirt road.<br/>
If not for said dirt road, he would have guessed that they where in the old forest with the trolls, but he doubts trolls used dirt roads.<br/>
Leaning his head back against the side of the wagon, he lets his mind wander watching the branches reaching for each other high above him.<br/>
Well, it looks like the trees are reaching their arms across the road, leaves swaying in the wind.<br/>
It’s calming, almost lulling him back to sleep, so he blinks again and sits up.<br/>
He needs a plan, to find out as much as possible about this situation and how to survive it. </p><p>Sometime later, the other three guys wake up groaning.<br/>
When they discover their situation, Taylor starts to cry, and the two strangers starts to demand the kidnapper to set them free.<br/>
After yelling for half an hour, a least, with the driver just snickering, they go quiet.<br/>
Taylor manages to calm down after a while, and the next hour or so the only sounds are the ones from the wagon and horse.<br/>
At one point, he thinks he can see a deer peaking around the trunk of a tree that looks centuries old.<br/>
Birds dances from branch to branch, singing without a care in the world.<br/>
Or, at least they’re not kidnapped, not a lot of problems could be worse than that.</p><p>Leaving the forest behind, he sees the mountains he knows from back in the village.<br/>
They are much closer now, the mountain almost looming over them, as they slowly make their way even closer.<br/>
Looking back at the forest, he realizes that his first guess was right, they had crossed the magical forest.<br/>
That means that they have crossed it, without meeting any troll.<br/>
He smiles a little at that.</p><p>The sun is almost down by the time they stop at the foot of the mountain side.<br/>
Reds and oranges and purple fills the sky before turning black.<br/>
He can’t see much around him, but somewhere close he hears shouting and some kind of clanging noise.<br/>
Several men walk towards them, one holding a gun and another what looks like a whip.<br/>
A man with a bright red shirt comes to the front, playing with a ring on his finger while lazily watching them.<br/>
“get out of the wagon, boys.”<br/>
The man doesn’t shout, or even raises his voice, but it leaves no room for discussion.<br/>
Even so, Taylor refuses, shaking his head with tears running down his cheeks.<br/>
“I said, get out!”<br/>
The man with the whip unfurls it, gets ready to use it.<br/>
Kain can’t easily leave the wagon before Taylor does, stuck behind him as he is.<br/>
He tries to push Taylor out, but the boy has completely frozen, and doesn’t move.<br/>
The whip hits Taylor across his face, making him scream.<br/>
Kain jumps out over the side of the wagon, landing on his hands and knees.<br/>
He scrambles to get up, but a foot kicks him in the side before he manages.<br/>
“get over there, scum!”<br/>
Somehow, he manages to get up fast enough this time, and hurries over to the two other men.      </p><p>He doesn’t see what happens behind him, but he can hear the whip hit its mark several times more.<br/>
Taylor screams and screams and scream, before finally going silent.<br/>
Without thinking about it, he turns around to look.<br/>
Tears spring to his eyes, his stomach turning violently.<br/>
Swallowing hard while he blinks his tears away, forcing himself to calm down.<br/>
He doesn’t think spilling his guts now would be wise.<br/>
The omega is a bloody mess, eyes staring at nothing.<br/>
He didn’t know him well, spending so much time in his garden, but even so.<br/>
If he just had listened to the man in charge, he’d been alive now.<br/>
And now, when he gets home, he has to tell Taylor’s parents what happened.</p><p>The man obviously in charge yells at the man with the whip, apparently, he wasn’t meant to kill the new worker.<br/>
So, they are her to work, then.<br/>
He wonders with what, there is very little to see here in the dark.<br/>
Whip-man yells at them to hurry up and walk, pointing towards a small path leading towards the noises.<br/>
The three of them does as told, they have seen what the man is capable of, and he looks angry after the yelling the boss gave him.<br/>
After walking on a narrow path close to the mountainside for a few minutes, they can see light up ahead.<br/>
The shouting is getting louder, and the clinging sound reminds him of the blacksmith back home.<br/>
Kind of.</p><p> </p><p>Rounding a corner, they see a wide entrance to what looks like a cave, with the ground both inside and an area outside lower than where they are now.<br/>
What looks like large steps from leads down to a flat surface from three sides, making what almost looks like a bowl in the ground sitting close to the mountainside.<br/>
The whole space is so big it feels surreal, but even so, the area down there is filled with people.<br/>
People working with something like icepicks, large hammers or in some cases bare hands, breaking loose chunks of rock from the sides.<br/>
Even in the poor light, Kain sees that both the mountainside and the stonewalls they are working at is light, maybe even white.<br/>
So, the white mountain was not snowed down all year, it’s the rock it’s self that gives it color.<br/>
Or lack of color.<br/>
Around the sides of this hole, big burly guys with whips and guns looks down at the masses inside.<br/>
Yes, masses, because there is so mange people there.<br/>
Men and women, even some kids, and they are all working.<br/>
There are even noises coming from the inside of the cave itself, making him wonder how big this place is.<br/>
The three of them are told to walk past the entrance, toward a small building at the side.<br/>
When they get there, they are pushed inside.<br/>
The hair at his neck is standing up, screaming at him to run from this danger.<br/>
He didn’t feel like this outside, or even when Taylor was whipped to death, fear running through him.<br/>
A small man is talking to the guards that have brought them here, but he can’t hear what they are saying.<br/>
The man is short and bold, with beany eyes behind round glasses, and a belly his shirt barely covers.<br/>
He just stands in front of them, staring at them with hungry eyes.<br/>
After a few minutes, they are told to take of their clothes and stand in a line.<br/>
The man then walks around, looking in their ears and at their teeth, fingers prodding at their necks and under their arms and at their stomach.<br/>
He even grabs their dick and feels their balls, shame making his ears red.<br/>
He isn’t quite sure what the man is looking for, but when he puts on a glove and tells one of the other men to bend forwards, he freezes.<br/>
No.<br/>
If someone wants to know if an unknown person is an omega outside of heat, all they have to do is take a look down there.<br/>
As an omega, you don’t look like you did before you presented, at least it’s supposed to look different.<br/>
Or, more feel different, since it’s not on the outside the changes is.<br/>
Before today, nobody has seen him down there, and only he has touched.<br/>
It’s not that he is saving himself for his mate or anything stupid like that, he just hasn’t got time for that kind of stuff.<br/>
His breathing becomes short and he looks around wildly, but there is no way out of here.<br/>
The man to his left tries to fight it, only for two of the guards to hold him down.<br/>
He lets out a broken sound when the man inserts his finger, what ever the guy is doing down there takes several minutes, and when his fellow prisoner gets up, he’s red as a tomato, and partly hard.<br/>
He looks broken, tears running down his face.</p><p>There is no use fighting, so when it’s his turn, he does as he’s told.<br/>
And it still hurts.<br/>
Pushing a finger in dry, moving it around and working it in and out for what feels like an eternity.<br/>
And even if it still hurts, it also feels god.<br/>
So good, that when he is told to get up, he too is half hard and bright red.<br/>
He manages to hold back his tears by pure stubbornness, not letting it show how he feel.<br/>
It’s not just the pain, it’s humiliating.<br/>
This stranger using his fingers like that, in front of other strangers, both kidnapped and not, makes him nauseous.<br/>
He feels striped bare, raw and beyond humiliated.</p><p>Twenty minutes later, they are all three declared omegas, made to drink a small glass of something foul tasting, given some stiff pants, and a bowl with something that can be called a stew.<br/>
Maybe.<br/>
After forcing down his food, the three of them are led back to the cave, where an older man is called to them.<br/>
“put these three omegas to work, you know what to do.”<br/>
The old man bows, before telling them to come with him.<br/>
Kain is given tools and a bucket and set to chop stones from the walls of the cave.<br/>
The people around him doesn’t even give him a look, just continues with their own work.<br/>
He is used to hard labor, but he can feel sweat run down his back before they finally are told to stop.<br/>
Feeling very thirsty, he looks around to see if there is any water, but with so many people it’s hard to see anything.<br/>
He looks around for the old man that told him what to do, to ask what would happened now, but he doesn’t see him.<br/>
Slowly, people wander inside cave, and he can see a line of people waiting with some form of cup in their hand.<br/>
When they reach the front of the line, they dip their cup in a barrel and fills it with something to drink.<br/>
He hurries to the line, throat dry, only to be denied when he gets to the front of it.<br/>
“no cup, no water”<br/>
Well, he didn’t have a cup, where would he find one?<br/>
His question was met with silence, and when he saw one of the guards come closer, he decides to walk away.<br/>
Wandering inside the cave, he sees that people have curled up against walls or in small groups.<br/>
Some have blankets, some don’t.<br/>
They are all asleep or trying to fall asleep.<br/>
With everything that have happened today, he suddenly feels tired.<br/>
More tired than he has ever been before.<br/>
So, he finds himself a small place along a wall, and curls up a good as he can.<br/>
Finding out what this place is, and the ins and out of things here, can wait until tomorrow.</p><p>A cry of pain wakes him up.<br/>
The torches used when they worked is put out, so there is not much to see.<br/>
But when he turns toward where he can hear some whimpers and sobs, it looks like somebody is leaning over somebody else.<br/>
In his tired mind, it takes a few seconds, and some more grunts and a moan, before he understands what really goes on.<br/>
It doesn’t look like anybody else is going to do anything, so he closes his eyes hard and try to go back to sleep.</p><p>The sound of a whip in the air is what wakes him up next.<br/>
“get up, scum, get to work!”<br/>
Shaking of his sleep, he does as told, but not without looking towards the corner from the night.<br/>
He soon wishes he didn’t, the lump of clothes not moving.</p><p>A couple of days later, the lump is still where it was that first night.</p><p>The first full day at the quarry, as he learns this is, he manages to find a cup laying in the cave, and finally gets some water.<br/>
The barrels are opened three times a day, everybody in line grabs one cup of water and guards it as the treasure it is.<br/>
Well, they guard it all of the 30 seconds it takes to swallow it down, and then it’s back to work.<br/>
A little girl is crying, looking around frantically, and why on earth is there even children at a place like this?</p><p>The one cup isn’t enough, and since the guards doesn’t watch the line, he tries to grab some more.<br/>
But before he can fill his cup again, strong arms grab him and throws him to the ground.<br/>
He is kicked repeatedly, in his ribs and legs and arms, but as soon as it started, it stops.<br/>
When he opens his eyes, or eye since one of them is swollen shut, he sees to men being dragged away by the guards.<br/>
Nobody looks his way, just goes back to work, and slowly he gets on his feet.<br/>
Right.<br/>
Just one cup, even if the guards doesn’t look.<br/>
The sound of a whip startles him, and he hurries to start working himself.</p><p>It’s not before the next time the barrels are opened, that he realizes that his cup is gone.<br/>
The little girl from earlier that morning is in line holding a woman’s hand, cup held close to her chest.<br/>
Whatever...<br/>
He can find a new cup.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Pleace let e know if you find any typos!</p><p>I would love for you to leave me comments and kudos!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Chapter 4</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>4.</p><p>But he can’t find a new cup.<br/>
His head hurt, every breath hurts in his ribs, and as the day goes on, the dizziness gets worse and worse.<br/>
At one point, he tries to sit down, just for a few minutes, and gets a hit with a whip.<br/>
That hurts even more, and he fights through the rest of the day.<br/>
Eating the so-called stew makes it a little better, but there is not enough liquid in it to make up for the lost cup.<br/>
And even as tired as he is, sleep won’t come to him.<br/>
It’s not before the sky gets lighter that his eyes fall shut.  </p><p>The third morning in the quarry, it seems like the lump has moved.<br/>
But when he looks closer, it’s just the blanket that is gone.<br/>
And close to the wall, partly under the body, lies a cup.</p><p>He spends a long time that morning thinking about that cup.<br/>
The thirst driving him crazy, he has to get some water soon or he would die.<br/>
So, when the barrel is opened and people gets in line, he hurries over and grabs the cup.<br/>
He feels nauseous, but the young girl doesn’t need her cup anymore.<br/>
The water tastes wrong, but at the same time, the best water he has ever had.<br/>
And that night, while everybody eats their stew, two guys are followed by guards to remove the body.<br/>
He breaths easier after that, trying to forget all about it.</p><p>Keeping his head down and eyes open, not looking anybody in the eyes but glancing around when nobody is watching, he tries to figure out this place.<br/>
Who’s guards and who’s prisoners are easy to see, the prisoners in simple gray pants, while the guards wore a leather vest on top of whatever personal clothes they had.<br/>
And most of the guards are way bigger than the prisoners, plus they keeps themselves mostly outside the hole, looking down on the prisoners working.<br/>
He spends his days working as hard as he can, thinking of ways to make his stay here as easy as possible.<br/>
Making sure to be early in the line for water in the evening, then hurrying inside the cave to get a good place to sleep.<br/>
And if somebody looks down at him for stealing their spot, he pretends not to see them.<br/>
Everybody fights for themselves, and he is fighting to win.</p><p>He needs to put all his energy and time into the work.<br/>
Every stone he breaks free from the side of the cave, he collects in a bucket he guards with his life, and when it’s full he goes to a corner where it gets weighted and registered.<br/>
If you manage to deliver enough, you get a blanket together with that days stew.<br/>
And give it back with the stew in the morning.<br/>
He didn’t understand why the company bothered to collect them and then hand them out again at night.<br/>
Then, he saw a young man and an old lady fight over a cup, both ending up bloody and none of them got water.<br/>
He thought about how desperate he was for water when he lost his cup, and with the cold wind at night, he was definitely doing everything he could to get a blanket.<br/>
If anybody could just steal a blanket, or steal your blanket from you, why bother to work for it?<br/>
So maybe it wasn’t so stupid, the whole giving out and getting back -routine.</p><p>And finally, after five days with water and what goes as food, he earns himself a blanket.<br/>
That night, he sleeps better than he had in a very long time.</p><p>Days became weeks, each day like the one before.<br/>
He gets up, has his water,  works, has his food when it’s served in the evening, and sleeps at night.<br/>
Sometimes, they get a glass of that foul drink he got the night he arrived here, and it takes some time before he realize that that is ones a week.<br/>
He is so focused on what he has to do to fill his bucket and keep his blanket, that he doesn’t even count the days.<br/>
That scares him.<br/>
How is he ever going to get out of here if all he does is work?<br/>
When did he let himself use all his focus on surviving, like the rest of the people here, and forgetting that he was getting out of here?<br/>
From that day on, he focuses on learning the routine of the guards and the other working for the quarry.<br/>
How many worked during the day, how many worked during the night.<br/>
Witch of them who liked to use the prisoners for sex, and if they preferred to drag them to a more private location or just take them where they slept.<br/>
He finds out which of the guards that likes to use the whips for fun, and which ones that doesn’t like using it.</p><p>The boss is a cruel man.<br/>
He likes watching the guards beating the prisoners or watching them fight.<br/>
On the weekends, he organizes hunts.<br/>
Sometimes, he brings inn friends and they goes out to the forest to hunt for animals which they then feast on.<br/>
Other times, he takes a group of prisoners, tells them to run, and together with the guards off duty they then hunts them.<br/>
The small man front that first night is always with them on those hunts, it’s the only time he sees the man.<br/>
They too feasts on their pray, but in a very different way.<br/>
Screams of terror and pain rings trough the night at those weekends, keeping all of them awake.<br/>
The lucky ones were never seen again, the not so lucky limps in the next mornings.<br/>
Broken in both body and mind, they usually spends some days curled in a corner before they dies.</p><p>There is also different groups of the prisoners, some almost as cruel as the guards, some acting like they where the bosses, and some crazy ones that you should stay far away from.<br/>
He fears the last groups the most, the cruel and nasty ones.</p><p>But none of them was as cruel and crazy and dangerous as the old man that checked him out.<br/>
At first, when he discovers guards coming inside the cave at night to pick themselves a man or woman to play with, he fears that he would be chosen.<br/>
The feeling from that night coming back.<br/>
So, when said man showed up, he tried to curl up even more, to become invincible.<br/>
And he could as well be invincible, when it turns out that the man wants them young.<br/>
Very young.<br/>
Luckily, he brings the young girls away from the cave, and even if they newer comes back, at least their parents doesn’t  have to witness what happens.</p><p>There is sounds of sex in the cave almost every night.<br/>
Sometimes it is obvious that both parts wants what they did, even if he couldn’t understand why they could do that here, but most of the time it is clear that one part doesn’t want what’s happening.<br/>
Whimpering in pain and small cries of fear keeps him awake.<br/>
But he doesn’t do anything, nobody does.<br/>
Everyone has to fight for them self first, and he was fighting to win.<br/>
He is going home.</p><p>The weather is getting colder and colder, so when he can’t deliver enough stones one day and looses his blanket, he almost panics when he wakes up with blue toes the day after.<br/>
He wows to never loos his blanket again.<br/>
What ever it would cost, he was delivering what was expected of him, even if it meant steeling a rock or two when nobody was looking.</p><p>Then one day, he wakes up to a white ground.<br/>
It is still snowing, and continues through the day, making working even more difficult.<br/>
With only pants for the male prisoners, the females with a thin shirt on top, keeping warm was getting hard.<br/>
His toes are constant blue, even if he bundles himself up tight in his blanket during the nights.</p><p>The next day, a little girl was found blue and still curled up against her mother.<br/>
And the day after that, a man falls to the ground dead in the middle of the day.<br/>
There don’t go a day without a new death after that.<br/>
Even the groups of new prisoners that normally comes a couple of times a week, stops coming, reducing the amount work being done each day.<br/>
Which makes the boss take out his anger at the guards, which again makes the guards take it out on the prisoners.<br/>
The new white snow he is met with each morning grows patches of red from the blood and gray from the stones through the day, just to begin the next day all white ones again.</p><p>The first few days, the pain in his body is all he notice.<br/>
Stiff muscles makes it hard to move, tight skin on his hands splitting so easily when they hit the stones.</p><p>Then, the sight of his constantly blue toes makes fear turn in his stomach.<br/>
Even when he wakes up several times at night to try to work some warmth in then, they never changes color.</p><p>But when the second week of snow came to an end, dark purple hands and feet just makes him numb.<br/>
The pain is gone, one time he cut himself on his forearm and didn’t notice before the blood dripped to the ground.<br/>
He has to fight to get up in the morning, working in a daze, force himself to eat and make sure his blanket covers his whole body at night.<br/>
Only the dreams of his family back home stops him from giving up.<br/>
He will not give up; he is going home some day.</p><p>Finally, the snow stops.<br/>
And even if the nights stays freezing cold, the sun warms him up during the days.<br/>
The boss has his friends over for a hunt, the leftover from that feast making their food heavy with fat and stringy meat giving him more energy than he has had for a very long time.<br/>
Slowly, the feeling in his feet and hands comes back, and that is not painless at all.<br/>
Needles and pins makes tears burn in his eyes, but he doesn’t let it slow his work down.<br/>
He needs his blanket!<br/>
And even if his body becomes stronger and his mind becomes less numb, the habit of waking up several times at night to move his toes and tuck himself deeper into the blanket never really goes away.<br/>
It’s like his body doesn’t need as much sleep as before, and more often then not, he finds himself laying awake before the sun got up.</p><p>Then early one morning, he spots an old man leave his spot by the wall and walk deeper inside the cave.<br/>
And the next morning.<br/>
And the morning after that.<br/>
Curious about what the man is doing, he quietly follows him, mindful of the bodies around him.<br/>
There are now as much people here as when he came her, but he knows that within a couple of weeks, the number will have dropped down again.<br/>
Not everybody is made for this kind of life, and the winter isn’t over yet.<br/>
The old man moves deeper inside the cave then Kain has ever been before, trough a small passage that he didn’t know was there.<br/>
Is the man trying to run away?<br/>
He is sure he saw then man here when he first came here, so it would be strange if he still tried to find a way out, but why else would he sneak in here like this?<br/>
And this is the third morning he has gone this way, so no running away then.</p><p>Fresh air brings him out of his musings, a light coming from around the corner.<br/>
His mouth falls open when he rounds it and sees green grass.<br/>
Blue sky.<br/>
A small clearing surrounded by tall rocks and trees and bushes, like a secret little heaven.<br/>
And in the middle of the clearing, the old man is standing with his eyes closed.<br/>
He takes a few steps back, until he is partly covered by the opening and not so easily seen, even more curious of what would happened now.<br/>
Nothing happens the first few minutes, then the man takes a deep breath and begins to move.<br/>
Slow movements, almost as if he is dancing or stretching or something.<br/>
It’s fascinating to watch.<br/>
Muscles ripples under the mans skin, making him look much younger than his face said he was.<br/>
After some time, he sees that the same sets of movements repeat itself, a little faster each time.<br/>
The dance turns harder, more at point, and turns out to be kicks and punches.<br/>
No dance, then.<br/>
Some kind of fighting style.<br/>
He is mesmerized by the fluid movements, just standing there looking, until the man suddenly stops.<br/>
The whip used to wake everybody up in the mornings could be heard from inside the cave tells him that people are staring to wake up, and he hurries to sneak back before anybody sees him.<br/>
Later, when he is standing in line for his water, he feels eyes on him.<br/>
Turning around, he sees the old man looking at him with a furrowed brow.<br/>
He pretends he doesn’t se it and continues with his day.</p><p>The next morning, he sneaks after the old man again, mesmerized ones again.<br/>
And he continues to do so for the rest of the week, trying to memorize every movement, knowing deep down that this could be useful in the future.<br/>
Then, one morning when he tiredly sneaks around the corner and looks out at the small field, the man is standing there looking right back at him.<br/>
Jumping, he opens his mouth to say something, but nothing comes out.<br/>
He doesn’t know what to say, what to do.<br/>
“you better just come out here, son”<br/>
The old man takes two steps to the side, so there is room for the both of them.<br/>
“lets me see what you have learned so far.”<br/>
The man had known he was watching the whole time?<br/>
Gaping, he just stands there.<br/>
“are you just going to stand there, or do you want to learn?”<br/>
The old man doesn’t move, not even his head, but Kain can feel the power coming from him.<br/>
Gulping, he walks out to where the man wants him, closes his eyes, and tries to remember.<br/>
Slowly he tries to copy what he had seen, but his nerves make it difficult.<br/>
What is it the man wants?<br/>
“well, if that’s all you have learn in this last week, I really think you’re better of just forgetting about everything.<br/>
With so little focus, you’re wasting my time.”<br/>
He hears how irritated the man is, the words hitting him like a whip.<br/>
Closing his eyes and taking a couple of deep breath, he starts again.<br/>
He feels his arms and legs move, slowly at first, the movements new and a little strange.<br/>
But soon enough, as he feels more certain of himself, the movements become stronger.<br/>
Sweat runs down his back when the old man speaks again.<br/>
“well... at least, you are trying.<br/>
Meet me here tomorrow, an hour earlier then today, and I’ll see if I can whip you in to shape.”<br/>
Blinking, he realizes that it’s time to go back before the rest wake up, and hurries after the old man. </p><p>The first week of training is hard.<br/>
He loses more sleep than ever, every muscle scream in pain, and it’s difficult to reach his goal and keep his blanket.<br/>
But he needs his blanket, and he feels himself getting stronger, so he pushes on.<br/>
Luckily for him, the boss has a hunting party of the normal kind again that weekend, and their stew if full of wonderful fat and more meat than normal.<br/>
It still tastes foul, but he eats every little bit in his bowl.</p><p>After two months of training, he manages to keep the same pace as the old man, and they starts training side by side.<br/>
This gives him a new boost, making him work even harder to match the man in strength and precision.<br/>
All this training makes him feel better with himself, chasing away the last numbness from the winter.<br/>
They have had several periods of snow after the first one, luckily not as long, but they seemed easier.<br/>
It newer got as cold as the first time around, but with regular training he at least gets warm ones a day.</p><p>And then the weather gets warmer, the boss has hunting parties almost every weekend, and life feels so much easier.<br/>
He feels stronger, both mentally and physically, and starts to notice different things then before.<br/>
He sees how several women shares some of their food with a young girl heavy with a baby, even if the girl wouldn’t be able to work for quiet some time even after the birth.<br/>
A small group of men is playing a game of some sort, laughing together, in the last daylight before bed.<br/>
When a trembling young woman started to vomit every morning, some of the older women brings her deeper into the cave one night.<br/>
And even if he could hear her screams, he could also see how much happier she is when the vomiting vanishes.<br/>
People is doing everything they can to survive, not only for themself as he had thought, but also for their friends around them.<br/>
And it looks as they enjoy helping others to, like it is giving them something in return.</p><p>That opens his eyes and gives him something to think about.<br/>
By giving their love and help to those around them, they gets love and help back.<br/>
So, when he a couple of days later sees a man stumble and hurt his hand, leaving him with only one hand to work with, he teares a piece of fabric from one leg of his pants to bind it around the hand, to hopefully help it heal.</p><p>The man manages to work enough to not loose his cup at least, and after a couple of weeks the hand is good enough to earn him a blanket.<br/>
That felt good.<br/>
He has made a difference in somebody’s life.<br/>
After that, people starts turn to him for medical help.<br/>
There is not a lot he can do; he doesn’t even have water to clean up the wounds with.<br/>
But pieces of fabrics perfect to cover open wounds or to bind sprained ankles and hands miraculously shows up, so at least he has that.<br/>
It is better than nothing.</p><p>So, with the strength from training and working hard, and the feeling of being a part of a group of people, he feels better than he ever had before.<br/>
Strange, since he still is a prisoner, but so was the rest of them.<br/>
And the spring is coming, life is quite good.</p><p>So that’s when everything goes to hell…</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>more than 100 hits already!<br/>but, if you could leave a comment, or a kudos, so that I know that you read more than the first chapter..<br/>and tell me you like it, or, if you don't tell me why?<br/>pleace?</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. Chapter 5</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>5.<br/>One morning, when Josh and he are on their way back to the main cave after their training, five guards suddenly surrounds them.<br/>They are grabbed, dragged outside, and pushed down on their knees.<br/>All around them, the prisoners stand looking unsure at each other.<br/>“there you are…”<br/>The boss is standing beside the guards looking down at them all.<br/>Even with all his colorful clothes and big chunky jewelry, making him look more like clown than a boss, the man radiates power.<br/>“the two of you, thought what? <br/>That I didn’t care that you sneaked away to use your energy to other things than work?”<br/>The boss didn’t raise his voice, but everybody could still hear him.<br/>His anger cutting through the air as knives.<br/>“well, you where wrong.<br/>Using time and energy to do what? Dance? Play?<br/>Not matter what, I lost money by this, and now you will lose something to.”<br/>Their arms are tied together in front of them with a rope.<br/>In the middle of the open space, there is a pole standing tall.<br/>That pole had not been there the day before, had it?<br/>Like in a daze, he is moved close to said pole, and tied to a rope hanging down from it, bringing his hands over his head.</p>
<p>“not only have you gone behind my back and cost me money, but you have also increased the amount of work the rest of you scum had to do to keep up the production.<br/>So, since I’m not the only one that lost something here, I’m not the only one that should have some revenge.”<br/>His brain is struggling to follow what the boss are talking about, it doesn’t make sense.<br/>“for disobeying me and costing me money, you will each get fifteen slashed with the whip.”<br/>It had taken a lot fewer slashes before Taylor died, how was Josh going to survive that?<br/>“and then, I will let the rest of the scum give you the punishment that they think you deserve.”</p>
<p>Raising his eyes, he meets Josh’s, fear and resignation showing in them.<br/>He closes his eyes and turns his face towards the ground.<br/>No, he was not going to quit now, he was going to survive this!<br/>The first slash from a whip makes him open his eyes again, just in time to see it leave the old mans back dripping with blood.<br/>A new sound, and his back is burning.<br/>He tries to keep quiet, but it hurts so bad!<br/>Trough his own cries, he hears the old man crying out to, but if that makes him feel sad for Josh or a little less sad that he isn’t the only one crying out he doesn’t know.<br/>And doesn’t want to know.<br/>Hanging by his tied hands, he fights to get air into his lungs, focusing on surviving this.<br/>Breath.<br/>All he needs to do is breath.<br/>He repeats it again and again. <br/>And finally, the whips still.</p>
<p>Carefully, he raises his head and looked towards Josh.<br/>The old man has his eyes closed and hangs freely from his tied hands, but he is breathing.<br/>He takes a deep breath himself, they made it!<br/>A sharp pain and the sound of something breaking in his left arm makes him jump, he had forgotten about the prisoners...<br/>Stones and kicks rains down on him, and all he can do is try to protect his head as much as possible.<br/>It goes on forever, everything hurts, and then something hits his head and the world go dark.</p>
<p>When he wakes up again, he just stays still trying to breath.<br/>Every breath shoots bright hot pain up his spine, making it almost impossible to breath out again.<br/>Opening his eyes, he can see that he’s still lying by the pole, but that his hands is cut free.<br/>After a few minutes or hours, he isn’t sure, he manages to lift his head and look towards the old man.<br/>He is met with unseeing eyes looking back, the body still and empty.<br/>The smell of old books fading, Josh’s familiar sent replaced with the one of death.<br/>Josh didn’t make it.<br/>But he did, even if everything burns and black spots dance in his eyes, he is alive.<br/>If that is better or worse than being dead, he doesn’t know right now.</p>
<p>After finding the rhythm of breathing that hurts least, he slowly sits up.<br/>People is starting to get in line for food and water, so it must be evening now.<br/>He doesn’t even have to check to know his cup is gone, so there is no use in getting in line.<br/>Getting up to walk is harder than anything he have ever done, but he manages, and after a last look at the food and water line, he moves towards the cave.<br/>Nobody looks at him, or helps him, or even move out of his way when he is limping along.<br/>And when he finally reaches the cave itself, several women get in his way and refuses him entrance, leaving him no other solution than to sleep curled up so far out of the cave that there is no protection against the cold and wind.</p>
<p>He tries to get some sleep, but the nausea gets worse when he closes his eyes, and just the thought of vomiting makes his eyes stay open wide.<br/>The night is spent nodding of and on, and it’s not before the sun comes up, that he finally falls asleep.</p>
<p>He spends the next two days sitting like that, curled up and moving as little as possible.<br/>The headache is getting worse, every muscle screaming for him to move, but he stays still.<br/>Nobody looks his way, not even the people he had been helping gives him a thought.<br/>So much for making friends…</p>
<p>Late that night, a guard comes up to him.<br/>“you won’t last much longer without water.<br/>I can give you a cup, hell I can give you a cup filled with water.<br/>Do you want that?”<br/>There is no reason for the guard to give him this, so he knows it will have a price, but there is really no alternative for him if he wants to live.<br/>So, he nods, and when the guard signals him to move out of the cave, he tries to stand up.<br/>All his muscles scream at him, after being unused for so long or being beaten or both.<br/>They scream so loud that a whimper leaves his lips.<br/>It’s the first sound he has made since he woke up by the pole, and even that hurts.<br/>His legs buckle under him, and if the guard hadn’t grabbed his arms and dragged him up, he would still be sitting there.</p>
<p>Ones up and moving along with the guard, some pain lessens, and other increases.<br/>He is dragged up from the quarry itself, and a little back towards the mountainside.<br/>In the dark, sheltered from curious eyes and guards on duty. <br/>He is pushed face first over a fallen log, his pants soon around his ankles. <br/>The guards spits at his ass, before a blunt finger is pushed inside.<br/>It burns, but so does the rest of his body, so he just closes his eyes and focuses on his breathing.<br/>One finger becomes two becomes three and then the guard is pushing inside with a grunt.<br/>The pain intensifies when the guard grabs his hips and pounds him, breathing getting even harder, but he will survive this.<br/>He needs water.</p>
<p>After a few long minutes, the guard stills and cums.<br/>He pulls out and tucks himself in, sets a cup beside his collapsed body, fills it from his own water bottle and leave.<br/>It takes some time before Kain manages to grab the cup and drink the water.<br/>Tears runs down his face, shame burning when he looks down at his still chubby dick.<br/>Instead of getting up, he lays back down right there, looking up to the night sky.<br/>Was this really worth it?<br/>Does he really want to live if this is what it takes?<br/>Is there any reason left to live anymore?</p>
<p>When he wakes up the next day, he can’t remember how he got back to his place in the cave.<br/>He checks that he still has the cup and forces his body to stand up.<br/>If he is going to survive this, he will have to get in line for water, and then go to work.<br/>Breathing slow and shallow, he finds his bearing and stands up.<br/>Dizziness makes him steady himself on the well, but after a few minutes it calms down a little.<br/>The first steps tell him that nothing is broken from the waist down at least, but something is wrong with one of his hips.<br/>Not that that will stop him, now that he has decided that he want to stay alive. <br/>He walks to the line on shaky legs, but with his head held high.<br/>Forcing down the bile in the back of his mouth, he sets his shoulders.<br/>This will not stop him.<br/>He will go back home some day.</p>
<p>It’s not before he grabs his tool with his left hand, that he remembers that something in his arm had been broken.<br/>Well, he could work with one arm.<br/>And if he pees red for a few days, well...<br/>He would not let that stop him either!</p>
<p>The next few days, maybe a week, he continues like this.<br/>Water, work, water, work, food and water, sleep.<br/>Three more times, the guard comes to him late at night, making him earn his cup all over.<br/>And when he finishes himself with his hand after the guard left the last time, shame burning like bile in his mouth, he figures that this is it.<br/>It can not get any worse than this.</p>
<p>Then one day, there is an explosion from somewhere not far away, followed by shouting and gun fighting.<br/>Some guards run towards the noise, but some runs the other way, probably running away.<br/>Cowards.<br/>The shouting is coming closer, and it becomes clear that at least some of it is in a language that he doesn’t know.<br/>Prisoners runs around in panic, before most of them run inside the cave when the fight comes even closer.<br/>He backs up against a wall, doesn’t want to get stuck inside the cave.</p>
<p>A group of men comes walking down with some guards tied together with rope.<br/>The guards are placed around the pole, and while a couple of the foreign men points their guns at them, some of them disappear back where they came from.<br/>Several more groups of guards are brought down, the fighting slowly winding down, before a group of five huge men shows up.<br/>Everything about them screams alpha, leader, boss.<br/>Dressed in all leather, brown soft looking pants, and sleeveless shirts.<br/>Bulging muscles and long hair flowing down their backs.<br/>He didn’t know long hair could be masculine, no one but women had hair longer that to their shoulders back in the village.<br/>Why was he just standing there, ogling the guys, in stead of finding out what the hell is going on?<br/>Shaking his head, he drags his eyes of them.</p>
<p>A couple of prisoners he can’t remember ever seeing before comes up to them, talking in that same language.<br/>So, that’s what this is.<br/>A rescue party.<br/>But maybe not just that?<br/>He sees a man walking around placing small bags around the opening to the cave and around the group of guards and based on what he can smell and the fear in the guards faces, he suspects it’s explosives.<br/>He has to get out of here!</p>
<p>Not turning his eyes of the group of strangers, he follows the wall behind him to the path out of this hellhole.<br/>He is nearly there, when one of the men turns his head and sees him.<br/>But he just nods towards the path before turning back.<br/>He has to turn his back to the men to get out, but he just takes a deep breath and goes.<br/>And nobody stops him.<br/>Looking around for anybody, guards or strangers or whatever, he makes his way carefully towards the building he was in the first night here.<br/>That is also opposite way of where the fighting had been, so it feels safer.</p>
<p>He is walking around the house to where nobody can see him from the quarry, letting his guards down a little, when a strong hand grabs him by his shoulder.<br/>The back of his head hits the wall, the chilling voice of the boss in his ear.<br/>“look at that… <br/>Still thinking that you are better than the rest of the scum, do you?”<br/>The boss is making no sense, as usual.<br/>“I think I have time to give you another lesson before I leave.<br/>Yeah. I will...”<br/>What on earth is the boss talking about?<br/>Oh...<br/>Okay...<br/>Why something like this would be a turn on he didn’t understand, but the hard dick poking him in his thigh shows what the boss wants...<br/>He tries to break free but forgets his broken arm and ends up back facing the wall with a new level of pain in his arm, and with his pants around his ankles.<br/>Again.<br/>With no further thought, the boss pushed inside and set a punishing rhythm from the go.<br/>His ass screams at him, bile fills his mouth and soon he feels something sticky and warm run down his thighs...<br/>Even with that brutal speed, the boss just continues and continues forever...<br/>Breath.<br/>He just has to breath.</p>
<p>Finally, the boss shouts and fills him up, breathing hard against his neck.<br/>Pulling out and taking a few steps back, the boss starts to boast about how good he was and how he made him slick and what not.<br/>The boss did not make him slick.<br/>When omegas get aroused, especially when they are in heat, the can make their own lubrication.<br/>It reduces the need for prepping, and alpha’s evidently went crazy by the smell.<br/>Not this time.<br/>His dick had not made a twitch of interesse, the sticky stuff running down his thighs is blood.<br/>Turning around, leaning heavy against the wall, he sees the boss standing there with his pants still around his ankles, like he forgot about them, and he kind of want to see when he tries to walk away.<br/>Right now, the man looks at him, waiting for an answer. <br/>There is no way he would argue with the crazy man, so he just keeps his mouth shut.<br/>When the boss figures out that he won’t get an answer to his babbling, he opens his mouth to say something else.<br/>A loud boom makes the ground shake, almost drowning out the sound of a gunshot.<br/>The new hole between the crazy man’s eyes is the last thing he sees before everything goes black.</p>
<p>When he wakes up again, everything around him is quiet.<br/>No shouting, no gunshots, no explosions, no birds singing.<br/>It doesn’t feel natural, it doesn’t make him feel safe that’s for sure.<br/>But he uses the wall to pull himself up, looking around for anyone or anything.<br/>Everything is covered with a layer of gray dust, the one he is used to from the quarry.<br/>The ones majestic white mountainside looks wrinkled, like it has grown old and fragile. <br/>He walks around to the front of the building, where there ones had been a door.</p>
<p>The door is gone, but the opening is still there, and that’s what’s important.<br/>He needs something to drink, maybe some food, and looking down on himself he sees that he really needs to clean himself up some too.<br/>There is still nobody to be heard, so he walks from room to room to look for what he needs.<br/>He finds bottles of water first, drinking as much as he manages, before finding some cold stew and even dried meat.<br/>When his stomach is full, he grabs what he needs to clean himself up.<br/>He even finds some new pants and a women’s shirt, throwing his old bloodied pants away.<br/>There is a bed standing in a corner, and he is so tired so tired, but he can’t stay here.<br/>He has to get back, to his family, his garden, his home.<br/>After putting some more water and some dried meat in a small bag, he carefully walks away.</p>
<p>When he reaches the forest, he finds the dirt road, and follows it.<br/>Not walking on it, but just inside the tree line, where he can see where it goes.<br/>There is no way he would risk being found by somebody on their way to or from the quarry.<br/>So, he just walks.<br/>He walks all trough the night, only stops to drink some more water when the sun rises, before continuing.<br/>All through the day, then all trough the next night, and when the sun rises again, the water is gone.<br/>He takes a little break when he finds out about that, when did he drink the last sip? <br/>He can’t remember.<br/>Heavy eyes want to close, but he shakes his head and starts walking again.<br/>One foot in front of the next.<br/>He thinks he can recognize the forest around him now, so he must be close to the village, he can make this.<br/>Just one foot in front of the other, then repeat.<br/>And repeat.<br/>And repeat.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0006"><h2>6. Chapter 6</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>6.</p>
<p>Slowly breaking the tree line, he can see the village on the other side of the field.<br/>He can’t believe he’s here.<br/>The sun makes the lake look like silver, the flag outside the pub slowly moving in the wind.<br/>He can hear some girls laughing close by, the noise foreign and almost painful.<br/>But at the same time, his heart squeezes hard.<br/>He knows that laughter!<br/>Freezing, he can hear the girls coming closer, he wants to run away, he wants to run toward them, but he can’t move.</p>
<p>“Kain???”<br/>That is his sister.<br/>His lovely sister, the one that was supposed to marry early this summer.<br/>Or, maybe it’s still spring?<br/>“Kain? Is that you?”<br/>His whole body is shaking, his heart beating out of his chest.<br/>He wants so bad to look at her, but his body is looked up, he can’t move.  <br/>Just look down to his feet.<br/>Slowly another pair of shoes comes into his sight, then a hand brushes over his cheek.<br/>“oh my god.<br/>It really is you!<br/>Kain, you are back!<br/>Where have you been!”<br/>Strong arms pull him in to a hug, both of them shaking, he is going to fall apart!<br/>But his sister is holding him close, holding him together, not letting him crumble and fall.<br/>His body still doesn’t want to cooperate, but with a high whine, he manages to hide his face in her shoulder.<br/>“Never let me go” he thinks.<br/>“never.”<br/>Oh… maybe he said that out loud…</p>
<p>They stay like that forever, or maybe just a few minutes, he doesn’t know, and he doesn’t care.<br/>The girls around him talks quietly, someone is running away from them, but all he can do is cry, shake and breath in the smell of family.<br/>Of home…</p>
<p>More people come running, familiar voices shouting his name or just whispering it.<br/>“Kain?”<br/>His youngest sister grabs a hold of his leg, and finally he unfreezes.<br/>Turning towards her, he tries to smile, and lifts her up in his arms.<br/>Every movement hurt like hell, but it’s so worth it when small hands circle around his neck.<br/>“I missed you... where have you been?”<br/>He is clutching her tight, not knowing what he can say to that.<br/>There is no way he is telling her the truth, she is way to young, and he just want to forget about the whole thing.<br/>“son”<br/>Hearing his father makes him lift his eyes for the first time.<br/>The movement makes him dizzy, if not for his sister in his arms, his knees would certainly buckle under him.<br/>Somebody takes the little girl out of his arms, but before he can panic, the strong arms of his father pull him in.<br/>His kneels does buckle then, his father following him down to the ground.<br/>“o my god. Get the doctor! Now!”<br/>Doctor?<br/>There was no doctor here when he left, he thinks.<br/>A rumbling can be heard from afar, followed by the ground shaking.<br/>The mountainside… <br/>And then everything turns dark. </p>
<p>The first thing that comes back, is the warm feeling against his face.<br/>He doesn’t think he have been this warm since...<br/>Since when?</p>
<p>The next thing that comes back, is the smell.<br/>Flowers, and herbs, and home.<br/>He must be dreaming.<br/>He hasn’t been home since...<br/>Since when?</p>
<p>Then, sounds come back to him.<br/>A child laughing outside, someone moving in the chair next to his bed…<br/>What?</p>
<p>Opening his eyes, he sees that he in fact is in his bed, in his home, in his village.<br/>Turning his head, he sees his oldest sister sitting in the chair, knitting.<br/>He’s home…<br/>Before he can say anything to his sister, his eyes close again and he falls back to sleep.</p>
<p>He stays in bed for the next week.<br/>Sleeping a lot, looking out the window, and trying to eat.<br/>His body slowly heals, his arm is now in a tight leather sleeve, to support it and let the bone heal.<br/>The new doctor say it will always be a little weaker, the bones not aligning right.<br/>But he doesn’t care.<br/>The doctor talks about the arm, his toes that are dark red and blue and severely infected.<br/>He talks about his ribs, black and blue but healing.<br/>Talking about his lean body, all muscles and no fat.<br/>Even mumbling about blood and ruptures in his ass.</p>
<p>He doesn’t want anyone talking about his ass, much less touching it.<br/>But there is not a lot he can do about it.<br/>Especially since he can’t bring himself to say no.<br/>He can’t bring himself to say anything at all!</p>
<p>Both his older sisters and his father has tried to make him talk, but it’s like the words are lost on their way from his brain to his mouth.<br/>They tell him about things that has happened in the village over the winter, his father tells him about how his leg has been acting up in the cold weather, his oldest sister talks about her future husband and the wedding that is soon to be.<br/>Most of the time, he just looks out the window.<br/>He had spent a winter outdoors, and now that he can be inside in the warmth, in his own fantastic bed, all he want is to go outside again.</p>
<p>After a week in bed, there’s a knock on the door, and Jack walks in.<br/>The boy has grown a lot since he saw him last, but his babyface still have that big smile on it.<br/>He can’t bring himself to mind, thou.<br/>Sitting down, Jack opens his mouth and then closes it again.<br/>His ears turn red, and he gapes a couple of times more, before any words comes out.<br/>“I’m engaged to your sister Rosa”<br/>That was not the words Kain expected to hear.<br/>“I know I kind of followed you around like a puppy after I presented last year, I just felt we had something in common not being like the rest of the bunch here.<br/>But I have been in love with your sister for two years now, and after she didn’t present this spring your father gave me the chance.<br/>So… yeah…”<br/>Even with his face turned down towards the floor, Kain could see the guy was beet red in his face.<br/>And he couldn’t do anything other than to smile.<br/>Jack would be perfect for his sister!<br/>She was always running around, a free spirit and dreamer.<br/>Jack would help calm her down.<br/>“you two are perfect for each other!”<br/>Wow. <br/>Who would have guessed that the first thing he would say was that?<br/>To Jack?<br/>And mean it?<br/>Well, he did mean it, he didn’t understand why he choose to talk now, but he did.</p>
<p>He must have said those words quite loud, because suddenly the room is filled with people.<br/>Rosa jumps in his bed, giving him a huge hug, and his youngest sister takes that as a cue to jump in herself.<br/>Laughing still hurt his ribs, but it still feels fantastic.</p>
<p>The next day, he goes out to his garden.<br/>Slowly, he walks around, taking a good look at his beloved plants.<br/>His sisters have tried to take care of it, but the place looks like a mess.<br/>It would take a lot of time and work to get it back to where it was, but he is determent that he will get there.<br/>But to manage that, he has to start taking better care of himself.</p>
<p>He starts with taking a real bath, soaping up and rinsing several times, to get all the dirt away.<br/>His father helps him shave of the beard and cut his hair, both so long and unkept that he almost doesn’t recognize himself when he looks in the mirror.<br/>At the end, he looks clean, even if he probably never will feel clean ever again.</p>
<p>After a month of eating regularly, taking short walks and a nap in the middle of the day, his garden starts to look better.<br/>There is a long way to go, but herbs that should have been harvested last fall has been left over the winter, delaying their growth this spring.<br/>Some of the flowers and herbs is coming around well, and he can start harvesting some for drying, filling their kitchen with the familiar smells ones again.</p>
<p>After his sisters wedding and moving away to live with her husband, thing calms down a little in the house.<br/>But he still seeks the solitude in his garden more often than not, even if it is lonely there sometimes.<br/>But…</p>
<p>The village has changed when he was gone.<br/>People has arrived all through the winter, wanting a new start and settling down in Gothr.<br/>A family opened a small tavern, focusing more on food than the pub did.<br/>The doctor is new as well, living with his sister in a new small house right outside of the main village.<br/>There is hired help around the farms as well, helping out with the increased need for food.<br/>He doesn’t know why all these people wanted a new life, or why on earth they wanted it here, and he really doesn’t care.<br/>But…<br/>It doesn’t feel like the place he grew up in anymore.</p>
<p>The road leading into the village has become much better, wider, and more solid, from the increased use.<br/>Since his father’s health had dropped the winter he had been gone, Jack has been helping out around the farm, so there was no need real for Kain there anymore.<br/>The new doctor doesn’t use much herbs in his work, and the little he does use, he grows himself or buys from Sid.<br/>The store now much bigger, and with a lot of new things to choose from.<br/>Like dried herbs.</p>
<p>As weeks goes by, he feels more and more useless.<br/>Even with spending more and more time in his garden, he becomes restless.<br/>What is he supposed to do with his life now?<br/>Jack would step down from his work at the farm if he as much as hinted at that, but that feels wrong to.<br/>He will never be a good farmer, not like the other boy was already becoming.<br/>No, the farm is not his to get.<br/>He takes up the routine he learned from Josh at the quarry, pushing trough the painful memories to build up his muscles again.<br/>It also calms his brain some, making him focus so hard on every movement for a while.<br/>But still, the restlessness grows, he feels lost and useless.</p>
<p>Then, early in the fall, a large group of people walks into the village, with a horse and wagon at the end.<br/>After getting the permission, they set up camp on a field right outside the pub.<br/>Nothing fancy, just a fireplace in the middle, a couple of tents and the rest of them was obviously sleeping on the ground.<br/>Tough badass men and women, looking nothing like the people of this village.<br/>Rumors spread like a fire.<br/>They are pilgrims on their way to the far east, looking for a better life.<br/>The young men flocks around them in the pub, wanting to hear stories from their travels and dreaming of joining them.<br/>He has to check this out himself, so he grabs some coins and goes for a beer. </p>
<p>Even before he enters the pub, hearing words in that foreign language, he feels fear running trough him.<br/>But he continues inside, refusing to let that stop him!<br/>The pub is full, people sitting at every table, laughing and talking loudly.<br/>And at the table by the window by the door, a familiar group of men sat.</p>
<p>He freezes, standing there by the door until someone pushes past him to get inside with a frustrated “move it!”.<br/>There is so much noise inside, so not a lot of people hear the man, but those closest to him do, and turns his way.<br/>Including the men he has been staring at.<br/>There is no recognition in their eyes, but he quickly turns away in the hope that they didn’t catch him staring.<br/>After grabbing a beer at the bar, he finds his friends at a table further inside the room.<br/>They are talking to a couple of guys obviously from the group of pilgrims and shouts a welcome when they see him.</p>
<p>After two beers and some incredible stories he isn’t quite sure he believes, one of his friends asks if its true that they welcome more people to tag along.<br/>It turns out that there is possible to join them, but they would have to pay for their share of expanses and be prepared take their share of work in contribution to the group.<br/>Hunting, prepping food, taking small jobs in town they stop in and so on.<br/>Work hard, and walk harder, is what their leaders always said.<br/>And their leaders, is the guys he remembers from the quarry.</p>
<p>He doesn’t sleep well that night, nightmares from the quarry waking him up, only to turn in to dreams about another future outside of this village.<br/>When the sun rises over the mountain, he lays in bed looking at the roof.<br/>Maybe he should go with them?<br/>He is good at working hard, and with his herbs he could help out as a healer...<br/>If that’s something they would want.<br/>Throughout the day, working in his garden, the thoughts won’t leave him.<br/>And after dinner that night, he pulls his father aside for a talk.<br/>It turns out that his father has seen how restless he has become and isn’t against him going with the pilgrims if that was what he really wants.<br/>Not sure what he wants, he goes back to the pub, eager to find out more.<br/>There is not as many locals there this night, most of the eagerness gone.<br/>Dreaming about going with them is one thing but leaving friends and loved ones behind something else.<br/>There are fewer pilgrims to, but the group of leaders sits at the same table, and also one of the guys he talked with last night.<br/>They are talking to a young man, one of the new one living in the village he thinks.</p>
<p>He doesn’t know what to do.<br/>But he needs to talk to them.<br/>Taking a deep breath, he walks over before he chickens out.<br/>Four pair eyes look at him, not saying anything.<br/>His heart is beating wild, trying to make a hole in his chest.<br/>One of the guys nods towards a chair, and he sits down with shaky hands.<br/>The young eager man living in Gothr starts asking questions again, obviously wanting to join the group.<br/>And he is obviously just a dreamer, not having any clue about what a journey like this would be like.<br/>He has to smile, when the guy babbles about how this journey would make him a big man, and therefore make all the omegas fall for him.<br/>The man in charge of the group smiles back at him and starts to talk over the dreamer.<br/>“so, you want to be a pilgrim for all the omegas too?”<br/>Laughter bubbles out of him, before he manages to hold it in.<br/>“my name is Rhys, and if I’m not mistaken, you have more knowledge of this world than all the rest of the guys in this village.<br/>So, you’re wondering if you should join us or stay in this calm and quiet village of yours?”<br/>Kain only manages to nod, but that is all the man need to continue to talk.<br/>If anybody wanted to join the group of pilgrims, they would have to have all the equipment needed for a long journey, to know how to use it and how to carry it on their own back.<br/>And after the young man had left them with a hanging head for being laughed at, Rhys tell him that the payment to join is just a way to weed out the wannabees.</p>
<p>“if you want to come with us, meet us at our camp the day after tomorrow at dawn.”<br/>With that statement and a wink, the group leaves.<br/>He tells himself that he is going to sleep on it, but he already knows what he will do.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0007"><h2>7. Chapter 7</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I really don't like my summary, but don't know to make it better...<br/>Help!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>7.</p>
<p>When he meets up at the campsite the morning they are leaving, he’s the only one joining them.<br/>Not that that matters, the pilgrims didn’t come to their village to recruit more people.<br/>They only stopped by in this village by a chance, when a woman in the group needed a doctor.<br/>And she then decided to stay behind with her husband, since the doctor recommended it.<br/>The village is even to small to restock on food and other necessities and ended up being a waste of time for the pilgrims.<br/>For him, it is a new chance for a better life, and he is going to grab it with both his hands.</p>
<p>He has said his good bye’s at the farm, not wanting the tears and hugs and whatnot to stall the group’s departure.<br/>And, making it easier for himself to, he could admit that.</p>
<p>Kain have not been outside of Gothr a lot, the villagers wanting to stay close to home.<br/>But he can remember the forest in front of them, with a huge old pine tree splitting the road in two.<br/>It’s said that the lightning ones split the tree in halves, and it could certainly look that way.<br/>The old trunk split out as branches in every which way, like crocket fingers trying to grab their hair.<br/>Why the road is split by the tree he doesn’t understand, but he can’t find it in him to care so he doesn’t.<br/>Some of the young kids that have been hoovering around the camp since it was set, follows the group out of town. <br/>But soon all he can hear is the horse and wagon and the people walking quietly around him. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>After a few hours walking like that, quiet but in a group, he feels his shoulders loosen up and his breath becoming easier.<br/>A burden he didn’t know he was carrying is lifted of him, making him smile a little.<br/>Yeah...<br/>He did the right choice.<br/>Traveling with this group would be hard, but it feels right.<br/>He feels free.</p>
<p>The first evening on the road, he sits around the fire listening to the others talking.<br/>He wants to know more about them, to get the feel of who was who and what was what.<br/>But he doesn’t want to outright ask them, so he sits there listening to them all.<br/>He had thought the tents was for Rhys and his friends, but they all slept under the sky like most of the others.<br/>One of the tents was for three young sisters traveling alone, and the other smaller one was used by the group’s cook.<br/>What he is using it for, Kain doesn’t know, since the cook too sleeps under the sky.<br/>Not that he set up the tent that first night, somebody just mentioned it when they where talking about something else.<br/>Kain has brought a tarp with him of course, but prefers to sleep under the sky himself, with the warm and dry weather they have.</p>
<p>He doesn’t think he will get any sleep that first night, not used to sleeping outdoor anymore, and in the middle of a group of strangers on top of that.<br/>Rhys and his gang are loud and more brutish than they had been in Gothr, talking mostly in that language he doesn’t understand.<br/>Some of their body language is easy to interpret, like when the youngest of the three sister walks by on her own.<br/>Suggestions that meant the same in any language.<br/>But even as the burly alphas that they seemed to be, only three of them where.<br/>Someone tells him that they are from up north, from the kingdom of Taram.<br/>Even Kain have hear of that kingdom, placed so far up north that the sun never melts the snow, leaving it a cold and harsh place.<br/>And that the people living there is equally harsh, just brutes with ice in their hearts.    <br/>He doesn’t care much, after the quarry not a lot scares him.<br/>Even so, he doesn’t think he would sleep at all that first night.</p>
<p>That turns out to be wrong, when he wakes up to the smell of breakfast.<br/>A wonderful smell, of onions and meat and what not.<br/>Definitely not food he thought he would get to eat on this trip!</p>
<p>He soon finds out that the cook is a magician.<br/>All the food tastes great.<br/>Every single meal, every single day.<br/>And there is always enough food for everybody to get full.<br/>Every time.<br/>Maybe it’s the pot that is magic?<br/>He thinks maybe it’s both.</p>
<p>The food definitely makes things easier, but the days is still long and the work plenty.<br/>He tries to look out for herbs and plants growing wild that he could use as a healer, and when the cook sees he has knowledge of plants he is told to look for plants for food to.<br/>Which, by the way, may explain some of the magical part of the food.</p>
<p>Soon, the group settles in a routine, and the days flies by.<br/>Every morning, the smell of food wakes him up, Milo making breakfast over the fire.<br/>After cleaning up and packing their stuff, everybody gets their bowls filled up.<br/>Usually, Rhys and his gang were first in line, but he soon finds out that it have nothing to do with their status as leaders, but more that their experience made them more effective in packing their stuff and therefore faster at it.</p>
<p>When everyone is done, the bowls cleaned and firepit cold, they start walking again.<br/>They walk all day, small groups breaking away now and then to fill up canteens of water or hunt or scouting ahead for any danger.<br/>Or whatever else they want or need to do.<br/>The group normally only stops once or twice during the day, so when he follows his nose after some herbs and plants, he often has to jog to catch up with the group.<br/>He often wanders of, mesmerized by all the new plants, filling his bag with strong smelling herbs and probably edible plants.<br/>Getting lost in his head, trying to figure out his latest finds by smelling, touching and even tasting them, he sometimes gets lost in his surrounding too.<br/>More than ones, one of the more experienced guys finds him after far too long, leaving the both of them to hurry after the rest.<br/>Kain feels kind of bad about that, but there is so much to see, too much to learn, and he can’t help himself.<br/>At least, his new knowledge will make him more prepared when his healing is needed!<br/>He hopes…</p>
<p>When they to stop for the night, some of the guys gather wood for the campfire, while Milo prepare the meat and what ever else he has managed to get a hold on over the day.  <br/>People set up their stuff around the fire, and most of them are asleep not long after the sun goes down.<br/>The days are long and tiresome, leaving only a small group sitting around the fire, and even if Kain wants to learn as much as possible about his fellow travelers, he too chooses sleep over socialization most nights.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>The first few days, he went back to the sleep routine he had in the quarry, always alert and ready to jump up.<br/>Not trusting the people he travels with, even if they didn’t know he was an omega.<br/>It turned out the youngest sister, Melody, was an omega, and that was the reason Rhys and the friends was advancing on her.<br/>Like being an omega was enough reason to be sexified.<br/>Still, it had been a shock fining out they thought he was a beta, but at least it kept him safe.<br/>No, safer, he would never bee stupid enough to think he would ever be safe again.<br/>And there is no reason for him to tell them, since even their alpha nose doesn’t sniff it out.</p>
<p>But as the days goes by, his body aching from their long walks, he finds himself falling asleep faster, and sleeping harder.<br/>The talking and laughing around the fire at night a background noise reminding him that he isn’t alone.<br/>His brain forgetting that he doesn’t trust these people.</p>
<p>After a couple of weeks of traveling, he notices that the alphas and their close group gives him some glances when they don’t think he sees them.<br/>It gets worse and worse, making him more and more jittery, until he one night can’t deny the warning bells going of in the back of his head any longer.  <br/>He tries to not think much about it, focusing on cleaning a few cuts some of the hunters have got, trying to not fall asleep before dinner.<br/>Scratching at his neck when a small tickle of sweat tickles him, he spends a second to think about taking a dip in the stream running close to the camp but decides he’s to tired.<br/>He would probably just end up falling a sleep and drowning himself. <br/>The stream will be there the next day to.<br/>Except, the next day he oversleeps and ends up skipping breakfast to be ready to leave in time.</p>
<p>The following couple of days, the glances becomes more frequently.<br/>Especially after they sets camp at night, heated looks followed by laughter and crude comments he didn’t need to understand the language to understand the meaning of.<br/>The tingling feeling of fear runs down his spine, and the warning bells rings loud in his head, but there is not a lot he can do.<br/>He’s too tired to put up the tarp, and it’s really no security in using it either. <br/>There had been no stream close to where they camped last night for him to take real dip to clean himself up, and his skin feels sticky and tight.<br/>Like it’s a number to small for his body.<br/>He will have to use a cloth to clean up a little in the morning.<br/>Strange, that after all that time at the quarry, he never felt this dirty.<br/>Grumbling to himself when he crawls under his blanket, he decides to go back to his sleeping routine from the quarry again.<br/>Just in case.</p>
<p>But he must have been more tired than he knew, because suddenly he feels an arm pulling him close to a body that wasn’t next to him just a few minutes ago.<br/>The musk of alpha and sent of cedar envelope him.<br/>He tries to get out of the hold, but the man behind him is big and strong, and keeps him in place.<br/>Hot breath blows over his neck, and then a hard dick pushes against his ass.<br/>He freaks out, fights harder, but not getting anywhere.<br/>The man behind him starts to grunt, the movements behind him getting harder and faster.<br/>And in his panic, it takes him a long while before he registers that there is no pain.<br/>And he still has his pants on.<br/>In fact, the man behind him is no longer pushing hard against his ass, even if with the movements he makes he should have.<br/>But something is between them, something else the man pushes against?<br/>Then the hips stutters, and with a long grunt the man comes.</p>
<p>Someone shouts something, and the rest of that group laughs, but he is still shaking like a leaf.<br/>What on earth had happened? <br/>The man behind him moved, and he registered that the thing between them had been the man’s hand.<br/>Shivering, he tries to calm his breath and try to make sense of this, and he barely notice that a hand comes up under his shirt to rub something sticky to his lower back.<br/>Flashbacks to the time at the quarry makes him dizzy, but the lack of any pain or even any real abuse makes it even worse.<br/>He just can’t wrap his head around what’s happening, his breath coming in small gasps and tears still running down his face.<br/>The man doesn’t move away, just pulls their combined blankets around them and holds him close through the night.<br/>He doesn’t sleep much, but he must have fallen a sleep at some point, startling awake when the man gets up from behind him.</p>
<p>The fire is lit, and he can smell the food cooking, it’s morning.<br/>When he finally is awake enough to turn around to see who the man was, there is nothing but threes behind him.<br/>He doesn’t even knew who the man was, he can’t keep an eye out for him or corner him to ask what that was about or anything at all.<br/>Another round of laughter makes him turn around again, and he feels as if all eyes is staring at him.<br/>There are some couples among the pilgrims, and he even thinks one girl is a working girl as they said back at the village, so the sounds of sex are not that uncommon.<br/>Just adult people enjoying themselves.<br/>Nobody would think he had enjoyed himself last night, his struggling and crying made sure of that.<br/>Humiliated he looks to the ground, tears threatening to fall.<br/>No way is this breaking him!<br/>He takes a deep breath, finds a cloth in his pack, and goes in search for some water.<br/>Now he really needs to clean up.<br/>He even feels sticky between his thighs.</p>
<p>And if he refuses to look anybody in the eyes for the rest of the day, that is nobody but his own business.</p>
<p>With the not looking at people all day, he sees much more of the view.<br/>They had left the forest behind early this morning and now there where no trees to be seen.<br/>If he looked to his left, he could follow rows of corn all the way to some hills far away. <br/>On the other side of the road, there’s only yellow to be seen, fields upon fields of sunflowers filling his vision.<br/>The tall stems sways in the wind, the crown of yellow petals with their brown center looking like faces nodding to a rhythm only they can hear.<br/>He felt himself swaying with the flowers, silencing his thought for a little while.<br/>They must be close to a town or something, with all the cultivation, but there has been no talk of stopping by anywhere.<br/>It had been lots of animals to hunt, and patches of wild onions and garlics and different herbs and other plants in the forest, so they had a lot of food stored in the wagon.<br/>He had found out the cooks tent was for drying both meats, and even some plants.<br/>After a very successful hunt, they had a lot of meat left, so the cook told everybody that they where staying put one extra day.<br/>The cook had a strange metallic bowl, that he had some smelly woodchips in that he then set on fire, put a plate on top and placed inside this tent.<br/>Hanging up what needed drying inside over a day and night, and the food both tasted better and could be stored much longer.</p>
<p>But, either the yellow fields or the memory of the smell of newly dried meat could take his mind of last night for long.<br/>He has no clue who the man is, but he thinks maybe it was on of Rhys friends. <br/>Just because he didn’t think anybody else would get away with doing something like this.<br/>In their own fucked up way, that group worked as their leaders and guards for this journey.<br/>One of them is always among the guards at night, one of them is always with the hunting team, and if they met someone or something on their way, they always put themselves between the unknown and the rest of the group.<br/>Witch made last night even more confusing...</p>
<p>Kain isn’t looking forward to going to sleep that night but tells himself firmly that he survived the quarry.<br/>He can sleep as lightly as he did there, be as alert as he was there.<br/>Nobody would sneak up on him tonight! <br/>But even with all the experience he had from the quarry, and the fear running trough his veins, he ones again wakes up to somebody pulling him in.<br/>Fear makes him freeze for a couple of minutes, before he begins trashing to get free.<br/>But none of the moves he had ever learned to fight of attackers could be used when laying down.<br/>He didn’t give up, but the man behind him just pulled him close and grunted into his neck.<br/>As soon as he calms down a little, tears running and body shaking, the guys dick begins rubbing against his ass.<br/>The movements long and strong, grunts and groans leaving the man.<br/>When he feels the man pause and start loosening his own pants, his fear spikes and his breath hiccups.<br/>But the man doesn’t touch his clothes, just starts to pound into his own hand, and after a few minutes he comes with a grunt.<br/>He is so confused, what the hell is happening?<br/>His thoughts whirr around in his head, none of them making any sense.<br/>And even though he feels the man lift his shirt and rub what obviously is his semen into his skin, it didn’t really sink in.<br/>The arm around his chest pulls him closer to the man behind him, and even with the confusion and lingering fear, he feels himself fall asleep.</p>
<p>Waking up the next day, he’s alone.<br/>As strange as it is, he feels good, relaxed after a good nights sleep.<br/>Confusing?<br/>His new middle name.<br/>Shaking his head, he starts with his day.<br/>Ones again, bringing his cloth and some water behind some bushes to clean up.<br/>He feels sticky all over, what he would do to spend an hour or two in a pond now…<br/>Cool his body and get rid of all this disgusting sweat.</p>
<p>It is nearing the time to set up camp, when one of the scouts comes running back towards them.<br/>Throughout the day, the regular group of three guys runs ahead of the main group to scout for dangers and obstacles ahead.<br/>And now, one of them comes running back, a wound in his forehead bleeding quite a lot.<br/>Without even thinking about it, he dumps his pack on the ground and hurries over.<br/>Focusing only on the hurt man, he doesn’t catch much of what had happened, just that they had been attacked by something or someone and needed help in getting back to camp.<br/>Two of Rhys friends grabs some of the bigger guys and runs back towards where the scout had come from.<br/>Rhys decides that they will set camp on a small patch of grass close by, and Kain hurries to set up a place to take care of the wounded that would come.<br/>He orders the man standing closest to him to grab some big leaves from the cornfield they had passed earlier.<br/>He then tells the cook to boil a big pot of water, while setting out his herbs and plants from his bag.<br/>A premade paste of ginseng and grapeseed oil to cover wounds with, and some dried feverfew and chamomile to make tea.<br/>The tea would both help with the pain and hopefully calming them down a little.<br/>Big bad men they are, but they still get scared for themselves sometimes.<br/>As they should. </p>
<p>After stitching up some deep wounds on a thigh, fixing a dislocated shoulder and binding a man with a broken rib, he sits down to take a breath.<br/>The cook is giving the men the tea, hopefully it would be enough to let them sleep through the night.<br/>He still doesn’t know what had attacked the scouts, but it had to have been something big.<br/>With big knives or big claws.<br/>Either way, he had done his part now, and after a quick cleanup he’s going to bed.<br/>While organizing his herbs and stuff back where it belonged, cleans up the blood and leftover rags and leaves, and then sort of cleaning himself leaving less blood on his body, all he can think about is his blanket.<br/>He wasn’t even going to get any food before going to bed, but the cook comes over to him with some as soon as he sits down on his blanket.<br/>Eating it up without tasting anything, he just drops the bowl, curls up and fall asleep.</p>
<p>He is so tired, that he almost missed the strong arm pulling him back against a warm body.<br/>The next morning, he ones again wakes up when the man leave.<br/>Groggily, he tries to catch who it is, but just sees a glimpse of a broad back.<br/>Leather wearing broad back. <br/>One of Rhys, then.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0008"><h2>8. Chapter 8</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>8.</p>
<p>They stay at that camp for another day, giving the wounded men a days rest.<br/>Kain spends it searching for more herbs and plants to fill up what he has used the day before.<br/>He also gets some more of those big leaves he had used, they turned out to be perfect to cover the bigger wounds.<br/>To prevent infection, he uses a premade mixture of ginseng and grapeseed oil, putting it directly on the wound.<br/>He then covers the mixture with a leaf, to make sure it stays where it is supposed to be, and not getting smeared everywhere else.<br/>Normally, he used a smaller leaf he grew in his garden, when he patched up kids with small wounds after playing too rough.<br/>It is the first time he used something as big as these leaves, an instant idea after passing by those fields for so long. <br/>Binding it all in place with a clean strip of fabric, a far way from how he had to work at the quarry.</p>
<p>He is so focused on that, thinking about what he may be needing next time and if he only had brought that plant from his garden then…<br/>Before he knows it, the sun is setting, and it’s time for food.<br/>Only after eaten half of it, does he think about what is in store for that night.<br/>The rest of the food goes cold in his bowl, fear and anger and confusion taking over.<br/>But he is too tired to try to understand what had, and maybe would, happened.<br/>Did the man really just hold him last night, or did he really sleep through the spectacle?<br/>He doesn’t think it is the last one, but that just makes it even more confusing…<br/>He wants to know who it is, though, so he tries to just pretend to be sleeping to find out.<br/>But ones more, he wakes up to the strong arm pulling him close.<br/>The guy is horny again tonight, sniffing his neck and humping his ass.<br/>Ones again he tries to get away, but it is only half assed, he knows he won’t make it.<br/>After some grunting and moving around, it becomes clear that the man is fucking his own hand again.<br/>It is still confusing as hell, but at least it doesn’t hurt.<br/>Physically.<br/>Before he can think anymore about it all, he falls asleep.<br/>Again.</p>
<p>The next morning when he wakes up, the arm is still around him, and the man sound asleep.<br/>Carefully he turns around, looking at the biggest man of them all.<br/>He had never heard this man say anything, or seen him joining his friends when they made fun of someone, or hollered after the young omega.<br/>The man is always calm and alert, sitting around the fire with his friends or walking among them, always sweeping his eyes around, taking stock of his surroundings.<br/>He would never imagine that he would do something like this.<br/>And yet here he is, with what he thought was the groups gentile giant spooning him.<br/>Now that he sees him so close, he thinks this is the man that let him go in the quarry? <br/>Where did that though come from?<br/>Shaking his head, he pulls out from under his arm, waking the man in the process.<br/>For a few seconds, their eyes meet, before the man gets up and walk away without a word.</p>
<p>Later that day, he asks the cook about the mans name, but Milo doesn’t know, everybody just calls him the mute.<br/>So that’s why he had never heard the man talk.<br/>Not that knowing who the man is or what his name is would change anything, the mute continued to spoon him every night.<br/>During the days, the mute acted like he didn’t se him.<br/>If their path crossed, it was like the man saw right trough him, with a stern look on his face.<br/>Like Kain had done something wrong to him…</p>
<p>It became the new normal, after that.<br/>The mute always came after he fell asleep and did his best to sneak away in the mornings.<br/>Ignored during the days, spooned during the nights.<br/>Even so, Kain had never slept as good as he did now.<br/>But even if he doesn’t freeze in fear every time it happened, he couldn’t say the abuse was worth it just because he slept well.<br/>He is always alert when he curls up under his bedding at night, wondering if this night would be the night where the man would full out rape him.<br/>Or, he was on full alert until he curled in under his blanket, then his brain shut down.<br/>He doesn’t want to think about why he falls asleep like that every time, knowing the mute is going to use him, because that would insinuate that he doesn’t fear it anymore.<br/>And he is still scared of the man, of course he is!</p>
<p>The beast that had attacked the scouts, turned out to be a band of men running from the law, that thought they could get some easy money.<br/>After Rhys and his friends had caught them and knocked them around a little, they took a detour to the small town close by to drop of the men there.<br/>When they were delivered to the local law men, it turned it there was a bounty out for them.<br/>And that’s why they now scout for wanted criminals on their way.<br/>“easy money for a little fun” the alphas says.</p>
<p>The weather is slowly getter milder, even a little chilly during the nights, and Kain knew he will have to focus on certain herbs that only grew in warm weather.<br/>His bag of herbs and plants grows heavier and heavier, but he doesn’t mind.<br/>It’s nothing like in his garden back in the village but discovering new uses of known plants or getting to knew new plants, still fascinates him.<br/>It’s incredible how much a group of maybe 30 people can manage to hurt themselves on regular basis, but at least he gets to feel useful.</p>
<p>After a couple of months on the road, they approach a small city built on a mountainside.<br/>It’s called Vito, meaning mountain or something in their language.<br/>They are low on supplies and they have heard a rumor about a group of men they are bounty hunting for being seen around here, makes the detour worth it.<br/>When they come close, they can see that the city gates are closed, even if the sun is still up.<br/>This is a little strange, and makes their leaders frown a little, but they set camp and waits for the morning.<br/>Looming over the city, the mountain looked almost black, and with a thick forest surrounding it, he feels a little claustrophobic.<br/>It feels like shadows moves just inside the three line, making several of them jumpy and most of them setting up their bedding closer to the fire than they normally would.<br/>For the first time he doesn’t fall asleep before the mute comes, but is lying on his back watching the sky when the man approached him.<br/>Angry eyes look into his, until Kain huffs and turns over to his side.<br/>It feels a little strange to turn his back to the man, but he also has to admit to himself that he feels safer cradled in the big mans arms.<br/>The mute doesn’t even fuck his own hand, witch he had done every night except the one after the attack on the scouts.<br/>Just holds him close and snores into his neck.</p>
<p>He slowly wakes up, lying on a cloud, enveloped in the softest blanket he has ever felt.<br/>Soft pinks, the lightest purples, greens in the spring and blues from a summer sky envelope him.<br/>Caresses him.<br/>Kisses him.<br/>It makes butterflies dance in his stomach and his cheeks pinks.<br/>He doesn’t know why, but it makes him turn his face down in the pillow, hiding himself.<br/>Wait.<br/>Pillow? <br/>Blinking he opens his eyes and looks around.<br/>He is indoors, in a room with just one window high up on one wall, and a bed.<br/>The biggest bed ha has ever seen, filled with blankets and pillows in light colors, all in the softest fabric he has ever touched.</p>
<p>He is alone, naked and when he moves a little, he finds out that he is hard.<br/>Rock hard, he could probably break these walls down with his dick – hard.<br/>The blankets move a little with him, and pleasure sparkles behind his eyes.<br/>Not even thinking about it, he grabs his dick and tugs hard.<br/>His panting already, desperate humping his hand.<br/>But something is missing, or more, something is in the way for the delicious feel of the blankets caressing him.<br/>O yeah.<br/>Rolling over on his stomach, he gives a small hump down to the mattress.<br/>Moaning, he clenches his eyes closed, this is it.<br/>He forgets everything around him, that he woke up in another place than he fell asleep, that he is alone and that he is naked.<br/>It’s just his dick against that wonderful sheet for a few minutes and then he screams and shakes and sees white.<br/>Coming back to himself, he slowly remembers all the things his dick had blocked out.<br/>And even if he really wants to stay in his heaven and maybe chase an orgasm or two more, he shakes his head and sits up.<br/>While looking around one more time, his hand picks at the blanket covering him.<br/>Maybe one more orgasm?</p>
<p>Before he can decide, the door opens and a small man with even smaller eyes walks in. <br/>“goood! You wake.<br/>Right in times, we needs to got you ready!”<br/>With the way he speaks, it’s clear that this is not his mother language.<br/>Kain wants to laugh a little, but the smile the man gives him tells him that that would not be a smart thing to do.<br/>And he has to be smart, to find out what’s going on.<br/>“right! So, come long deer, lets got you fresh a little.”<br/>The man turns around and walks out, like Kain would just follow him without a word.<br/>Well, it’s not like he has anything else to do, so he grabs the nearest blanket to cover himself with a walk out of the room.<br/>They walk down a long dark hallway, trough a door that leads to a kitchen with a huge table in the middle surrounded with a dozen different chairs and stools.<br/>A few is people sitting around the table, eating and talking quietly among themselves.<br/>None of them looks their way, just stops talking and hunch their shoulders.<br/>He has seen that kind of behavior before; this does not look promising.<br/>“come long, now”<br/>He hurries after the man that those people obviously fear not wanting to find out why they do.<br/>At least not yet, he has to find out what the hell is happening first.</p>
<p>When they walk trough the next door, he is met with warm humid air, making him blink.<br/>That’s new.<br/>The walls, roof and floor are covered in wood, except that part of the floor that is covered in water.<br/>Steam is rising from it, it’s a hot pool of water indoors.<br/>Still new.<br/>Giggling pulls him out of his gawking, and then he notices that he is not alone in the room.<br/>Three young girls are standing at one side, clearly amused about his reaction.<br/>“so, you never see bath honey?”<br/>Another person he hadn’t seen, an elderly woman moves towards him.<br/>“I told they get you out those dreedful clothes you where, thank good in that.<br/>Now let you clean, and then girls pamper you, yes?<br/>Peel away layer dirt and hair and gave you skin life.<br/>Bet you like, little one?”<br/>Little one?<br/>He hasn’t been little in a long time, and why on earth is she talking to him like that?<br/>Shaking his head, he tries to make some sense out of this.<br/>It’s like the world is blurring at the edges or fading out or something.<br/>And trying to understand what the woman said makes his head hurt! <br/>“on you go, bath deer.”<br/>The woman is pointing at the pool of warm water, and as tempting as it is to sink into it, there is still four women in the room with him.<br/>Well, one woman, but that doesn’t make it better.<br/>He looks at the three young girls, and then back at the woman, but that only make the girls giggle again.<br/>“you don’t care.<br/>They helps you.”<br/>With that, the elderly woman grabs his blanket and more or less pushes him into the water herself.<br/>And it feels heavenly.<br/>He closes his eyes and just enjoys the warmth seeping into his body, warming him all the way to the bones.<br/>The gentle sound of moving water, the steam filling his lungs both calms his head.<br/>He could stay like this for hours...</p>
<p>A hand touches his forehead, and water is poured in his hair.<br/>He jumps, making the hand fall away and water running down his face.<br/>What a time to zone out...<br/>Another round of giggling erupts around him while he sputters and looks around.<br/>Two of the girls is in the bath with him, the third behind him trying to wash his hair.<br/>Probably.<br/>Bringing him here to drown him feels a little excessive, so he goes for washing his hair.<br/>Witch sound amazing when he thinks about it. <br/>One of the girls in the bath with him takes his arm and starts to scrub it with a soft sponge, the other searching for his foot.<br/>He shakes his head and try to tell them he could wash himself, rather he would like to do the washing himself, but the girls just giggles.<br/>“they helps you, you rest little one.<br/>Pour boy none care you long time.<br/>We care, take care little birdies, yes?”<br/>She is patting his hair while she says that with a low soft voice, like she is trying to calm a wild animal, - or a small scared child perhaps?<br/>Little birdies my ass...<br/>He gives in with a long exhale.<br/>There is obviously no way he can stop them, so he decides to do as the woman said, relax and let them do as they please.<br/>Another bucket of water is poured over his head, but this time he expects it and doesn’t drown.<br/>While one girl work soap into his hair, giving him a massage before carefully rinsing the soap out again before repeating it all, the other two attacks his body. <br/>Scrubbing away all the grim from his travel, in between his toas, in his armpit, behind his ears and in his groin.<br/>He tries to protest at that last point, but the girls just giggle at him and shakes their heads.<br/>Beet red he resign himself to the treatment, at least he’s getting clean! <br/>And hard, but that’s not his fault.<br/>“a, you like, normal.”<br/>Is all the woman says.</p>
<p>After he is deemed clean, they help him out of the bath, and pats him dry with the softest towel he has ever felt.<br/>Then, he is brought through a door and into another room and told to sit down in a strange chair.<br/>The chair tilts back, leaving him in a half sitting half lying position.<br/>Brushing her arms up his legs and chest while shaking her head disappointed, the woman turns to the girls and say something in a language he doesn’t know.<br/>“you not smooth, girls make.”<br/>One of the girls smears some sticky goo on his leg, in a long line.<br/>It feels warm and smells like honey, but what the purpose is he doesn’t…<br/>One of the girls quickly pulls of the now cooled substance, - along with all the hair growing there.<br/>He shouted from the pain and surprise, suddenly understanding the purpose. <br/>The girls coo at him, like he did something sweet.<br/>For the next hour or so, he gets all the hair below his neck pulled out like that.<br/>All the time, the elderly woman makes calming voices and pats him on whatever part of his body that isn’t on fire.<br/>Not literally on fire, but it certainly feels that way!</p>
<p>As soon as they are done, he tries to stand up, but is so dizzy he almost falls to the floor.<br/>The elderly woman pushes him back into the chair again, before she attacks his beard and brows.<br/>He fears that he will leave this place hairless, like the little child they treat him as.  <br/>After his beard is gone and whatever she does to his brows is done, the girls grab his arms and pulls him over to what looks like a small bath.<br/>But this time, the water is cold.<br/>Luckily, they only make him sit with his feet in the water, - before ones again making him shout as they pour a bucket filled with cold water over his head.<br/>Over the giggling, he hears the woman say it is good for his skin and hair, but he thinks they just loves making him shout.</p>
<p>After a new patting down with a soft towel, and too many hands rubbing some scented oil all over his body, he is given a robe in that incredibly soft material making him blush. <br/>It feels good on his skin, even more so no that all the hair is gone.<br/>The girls giggle again, one of them making a move as if to help him with his problem.<br/>He jumps back at the same time as the elderly woman curses at the girl.<br/>No need to understand the words to understand the meaning there.<br/>“por little. No shy, you need you need.”<br/>With a nod and a soft caress of his face, he is directed to yet another chair. <br/>Then it’s his hair’s turn, they brush it and put in some good smelling oil, pulling it back in a hair tie.<br/>He didn’t know it had grown out so much, but he has to admit he kind of like it.</p>
<p>Make up is the next on the list.<br/>He has long since given up on having anything to say about what is done to him, his thoughts going back to what the hell is going on.<br/>There is no way he is kidnaped for them just to groom him, and sitting here in this bright red robe that stops mid thigh with body and hair smelling like flowers and make up on his face, he thinks the reason is pretty clear.<br/>As an omega, even from a small village as his, he knows there is places where men can pay to have sex with working girls, or boys it seems.<br/>Because there is no other explanation then that he is now in a brothel.</p>
<p>Finally, he’s deemed done.<br/>A knock on the door reveals a young boy outside.<br/>“Cyrus take you eat.<br/>He no talk”<br/>And with that, he leaves the giggling torturer behind.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>I hope you all like this story so far!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0009"><h2>9. Chapter 9</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I would love kudos and/or comments, and feel free to bookmark or subscribe.</p>
<p>betaed by grammarly, English is not my primary language.<br/>So pleace let me know if there is any typos so I can fiks them!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>9.</p>
<p>The young boy doesn’t meet his eyes, just grabs one of the sleeves on his robe and pulls Kain with him.<br/>They walk down a hallway here, and though a door there, and around a corner there is a new door, and soon he feels like they have been walking in circle.<br/>But as they enter yet another door, he finds himself back in the kitchen he walked trough all those hours ago, and here he sees some familiar faces.<br/>Melody, the young omega sister, is sitting beside a married woman from their group.<br/>On the other side of the table, the working girl as he calls her sits.<br/>He really needs to learn the names of the people he is traveling with!<br/>All three of them is wearing a robe like the one he is wearing, just in different colors.<br/>Yet another woman comes in, looks them over, claps her hands and coos to them.<br/>Patting the working girl’s hair, brushing a hand over the married woman’s arm and hugging the young omega from behind.<br/>Then she sees Kain, jumps of what looks like joy and grabs both his cheeks pinching them, all the time blabbering sweetly to him with words he doesn’t understand.<br/>When she finally stops, she gives him a kiss on his forehead, nods her head and hurries to, it turns out, find some food for them. <br/>Some bread and cheese are put on the table in front of them, with soft words and caresses, and then they are finally left alone.<br/>Or, the young boy is standing in a corner, but he doesn’t believe he would understand what they where saying anyway.<br/>And even if he could, the elderly woman had said he was mute so…</p>
<p>He soon finds out that all four of them have had a similar experience so fare, the only difference being that the women had been together the whole way.<br/>Melody is wide eyed and scared.<br/>The married woman, Liza he finds out, looks resigned.<br/>And the working woman, Sol, is furious.<br/>They whisper among themselves as they eat, trying to find out as much as they can about this situation.<br/>It turns out that Sol can understand some of the words in their language, and the girls that was helping them bath was chattering in stead of giggling.<br/>Tomorrow night, there would be some kind of celebrating their new arrivals, where there would be some kind of auction to see who their first clients would be.<br/>But since they came here in the middle of the night, they are going to be taken outside to let the people look at them.<br/>She couldn’t quiet understand how they would show them of, just that it would be outside.<br/>That makes Melody cry silently.<br/>He takes her hand, trying to support her as much as possible.<br/>She may be the only virgin among them, and the youngest.<br/>And she was going to be a virgin to the day she herself decides to change that, running away being even more important.<br/>But how.</p>
<p>He tries to think out a plan, with the little information they have. <br/>This house is a maze of rooms and hallways, and the only thing they know about the city outside is that it is built on a mountainside.<br/>Melody, Liza, and Sol had all woken up alone, and what they tried to describe their way from their room to the bathroom, it turned out that none of them had taken similar routes.<br/>They had all been brought through the kitchen, but none of them remembered the same hallways from there to the bathroom.<br/>Yeah…  <br/>Kain realizes reluctantly that running away while being outside would be their best chance, even with all the people around.<br/>It would probably be their only chance.</p>
<p>Seeing that Melody and Liza is talking amongst themselves, he looks towards Sol.<br/>She is already looking back at him, a determined look on her face.<br/>“how are we getting out of here”<br/>She whispers.<br/>Kain tells her about his thoughts about running while outside, she agrees, and they try to make a plan of how to manage that.<br/>Since they know nothing about how the city is build up, a lot have to be decided on the spot ones they are outside.<br/>Their first goal is to get Melody and Liza away, knowing that the two of them would manage better in this place.<br/>After a bit of bickering, Kain wins and they decide that he would make a diversion while Sol brings the other two out of Vito.<br/>Since Sol understand a little of the language, she would try to catch as much as possible of what they overheard from now on.<br/>Or, continue to catch as much as possible.<br/>The woman had been working all day, pretending to not understand a word, even if they where harsh or ugly.<br/>She didn’t say much, but Kain understood that this city was not the place to live as an omega.</p>
<p>The vague plan was that Sol would somehow find out something useful from now on and until they could run, and when she gave him the sign Kain would distract the rest...<br/>With something.<br/>Fighting or whatever.<br/>They had a small hope that some of the others from their group would be there too, but since they had now idea how they were grabbed, they couldn’t know for sure.<br/>Maybe the rest of them was dead, or in jail or…<br/>He can’t think more about that, first they have to get out of here, then they can think about the rest. </p>
<p>Sooner than they hoped, the small man comes into the room together with the tallest woman he has ever seen.<br/>She is wearing a long dress in that soft material it looks like almost everyone and everything is made of here, in a bright orange color.<br/>The dress is cut low in front, her breast almost falling out, and a split show of most of her left thigh.<br/>Dark red curls cascade down her back, and even if those two colors should clash, she looks stunning.<br/>“come little one, meet Rosa.<br/>She madam her, you love.”<br/>The small man looks even more ridiculous standing beside Rosa, making heart eyes to her, but he only feels fear looking at him.<br/>“hello angles, pretty sweet one.<br/>Por thing, just wait morrow get what need.”<br/>Her pronouncing is even worse than the elderly woman’s, but she has no problem with talking down at them.<br/>Again, with the strange endorsements, and with how they pity them for traveling like they did, he bet they thought omegas where fragile and needed a strong hand.<br/>And, obviously, a good dicking…</p>
<p>They where lead into a room filled with big sofas, pillows, blankets, and even the walls where covered in that now familiar fabric.<br/>They must really love it, not that he couldn’t understand.<br/>But with so much of it, and with so many colors, it felt really suffocating.<br/>The colors were more subtle here, if you could call dark orange, deep red, and purple so dark it’s almost black subtle.<br/>Not to forget all the gold.<br/>Lots of lots of gold.<br/>Gold sofas, the walls were gold, and even the roof was painted in gold. <br/>On every flat surface, candles tried to lighten up the room, but only partly succeeding.<br/>A couple of young boys was talking in a corner, but with a single word from Rosa they disappeared.<br/>With all the sweet words that duo said, people really feared them.<br/>Sol and Kain had just manage to tell the other two to play obedient, letting the duo think they had given up, before their eyes is back on them.<br/>If the duo wasn’t expecting any trouble from them, they wouldn’t watch the as closely.<br/>He hopes.</p>
<p>Soon the two boys are back, with almost a dozen other timid girls and boys,      <br/>all of then looking down on their way to find a seat. <br/>None of them is wearing the robes that he and his friends are, but what they wear doesn’t cover any more of their body.<br/>The small man says something firm to the omegas, before leaving them.<br/>He could see several of them visibly relax when the man left, lifting their eyes from the floor, and casting them small glances.<br/>Rosa gave them all a big smile, talking to them with that crooning voice that told him she was calling them cute and little and angel and whatnot.<br/>Not all of them believed her, but most of them got a little pink in their faces and squirmed in their seats.<br/>After making sure her little omegas was properly taken care of, she turned her eyes on him and his friends.<br/>“por sweets, need proper cloth, angles find.”<br/>With that, several of the omegas jumped up and more or les dragged them out of the room.</p>
<p>Kain ended up in some tiny shorts, and a sleeveless top that ended right over his bellybutton.<br/>The so-called shorts were in a dark blue leather, the top in his new favorite material in a light pink shimmering color.<br/>He could see that the colors matched with each other and with his skin color, but he had never felt so nude before.<br/>Even when he walked around bare chested in the quarry, he never felt as exposed as he did now.<br/>But that is the whole idea, exposing him and tempting people to bid on him.<br/>That doesn’t make him feel better.</p>
<p>When they give him shoes with high heels, he doesn’t know if he should laugh or cry.<br/>Although they would cover more skin than the rest of his outfit, with ending right over his knee, they where far too small for him.<br/>Not to talk about the heels...<br/>There was no way he could manage to walk in them, certainly not running in them!<br/>And he needed to be able to run to get away.<br/>Luckily, they see they are too small for him, and he ends up with some almost flat gold sandals.<br/>They will be easy to get of if he has to run, so he lets them teach him how to walk with them.<br/>All they time he is wobbling away, back and forth in the room, the omegas around him can’t stop giggling.<br/>Where they giving these omegas some drug to make them giggle this much?<br/>Shaking his head, he focuses on managing to walk in a straight line.<br/>When they are called back to the other room and he funds his friends trying to hide their smile when he comes wobbling over the floor, he gives up with a short laugh.</p>
<p>The three of them are wearing similar clothes to him, Liza rocking a tight corset giving her a set of breast matching Rosa’s.<br/>And she is proud of it too, lucky girl.<br/>Or, woman, she is by fare the oldest omega in the room.<br/>Not that she is old, it’s just that everybody else is so incredibly young.<br/>Rosa is looking a little stressed, so it’s clear that whatever show they are making is about to begin.<br/>The small man comes back and goes around looking over everybody.<br/>A young girl gets a pinch at her stomach, probably told to lose some none existed fat.<br/>A skirt was pulled up a little here, a corset tightened there, and soon it was his turn.<br/>The man looks at his shoes and said something to the young boy that had helped him with them, shaking his head when he gets his answer.<br/>“big foot no god.”<br/>And that is that.</p>
<p>The four of them is given back their robe and told to hide their assets as Rosa said.<br/>Or meant, at least.<br/>Some of the other omegas is holding small hollow balls in thin chains, with a heavy smoke coming out of them.<br/>He can feel his vision blurring in the edges again, and a certain need filling his groin.      <br/>No wonder the omegas in here giggles as much.<br/>He almost wants to giggle himself…</p>
<p>And then they are walking out of that room, hopefully for the last time.<br/>Outside, the other omegas huddles around them, shaking their asses, and smiling big to everyone they met on their way.<br/>After just a few minutes, the street ends in a small square with a scene at the other end.<br/>The square is filled with people.<br/>People shouting, and pushing, and trying to come as close to the omegas as possible.<br/>But several guards make sure there is a small path for them to walk down, before the whole group of them walks up the two steps on to the scene.</p>
<p>Kain and his friends is still kept in the middle, waiting for the big reveal.<br/>Their big reveal.<br/>He really hopes that Sol is getting some idea of how she will get the three of them out of here, Melody is shaking like a leaf and on the brink of breaking down.<br/>Her sweet smell of honey turning sour.<br/>The small man is talking to the crowd, egging the people up, but all too soon he turns towards them.<br/>He looks at Sol and she gives him a tiny nod back to the steps they came up a few minutes before.<br/>There isn’t any guard standing there, all of them standing in front of the scene or to the side, focusing solely on the crown up front.<br/>Right.<br/>Distract everybody…    <br/>The omegas start to part, to let the four of them to the front.<br/>Now or never.<br/>He put on a bright smile and sway his hips while he walks towards the crowd.<br/>When he can’t go any further without falling of the scene, he brings his hands up his body, caressing his torso while swaying in a way he hopes are sexy.<br/>Laughing loud, he throws his head back, arms held high.<br/>Looking back down, he focuses on the man closest to him, giving him a lusty glance and licks his lips.<br/>Slowly he opens the robe, letting it fall of his shoulders and ending up with holding it in one hand.<br/>He is not letting the robe go, he needs it!<br/>The man in front of him is vibrating, his mouth hanging open and pupils blown.<br/>Kain lifts one foot and slowly pushes it against the mans chest, making him stumble a bit backwards.<br/>That does not sit well with said man, so he grabs Kain’s foot and tries to drag him with him.<br/>Guards surrounds the por man instantly, dragging him away from the brothel’s new favorite hooker.<br/>Giggling and twirling around, he seeks his friends on the scene and doesn’t see them.<br/>Letting out a breath he didn’t knew he held in, he gives the crowd a last cocky smile and put the robe back on.<br/>Slowly taking steps backwards, he hopes to blend in with the other omegas there.<br/>Which he does, but when he tries to inch towards the stairs, he hits a firm wall of flesh.<br/>Two more guards boxes him in, making a path for him back to the brothel, pretending to keep the crowd at bay.<br/>But Kain knows.<br/>He can feel the knife held to his back, he can see the look the small man is sending his way and he knows he’s caught.</p>
<p>Still smiling to the people they walk by, needing to keep their interest up, he soon finds himself inside the brothel again.<br/>They can’t hurt him too bad, if they still want to sell him the next day.<br/>He really hopes they are still going to rent him out the next day…<br/>And with how wild the crowd had been, he bet they would get a lot of money for him.<br/>They drag him down several hallways, before throwing him inside a small room and closing the door.<br/>He doesn’t need to hear the sound of the lock to know he will be staying here.<br/>There is no window in this room, so it’s pitch dark, but after some fumbling, he finds a corner and curls up there, facing the door.<br/>He just hopes his friends got away.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0010"><h2>10. Chapter 10</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I said I would update twice a week, but with more and more ideas for the next parts of the series I couldn't wait any longer...</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>10.</p>
<p>He must have fallen asleep at some point, because he jumps out of his skin when the door suddenly opens.<br/>The small boy from earlier, the one standing in the corner of the kitchen when Kain and his friends talked about running away, is standing there smiling at him.<br/>With a hand, the boy waves at him to come with him, and together they leave the room.<br/>The hallway outside the room is almost as black as the room was, telling him that it is in the middle of the night.<br/>Slowly, the two of them makes their way down hallways and through doors, until they end up in the bathroom.<br/>Frowning, Kain wonders what they are doing here, but the boy walks across the room and opens a narrow door to what he thought was closet.<br/>He can feel fresh air coming in from it, telling him it leads outside.<br/>“why are you doing this?”<br/>The boy just nods towards the opening, clearly wanting him to go outside.<br/>“what will happen when they find out I’m gone? <br/>Won’t you get in trouble?”<br/>Looking down, the boy whispers that Kain would die if he stays, so he had to get him out.<br/>“then come with me.”<br/>It’s out of his mouth before he can think about it, but the thought of leaving this boy here doesn’t feel good.<br/>“come with me, and I will take care of you.<br/>And not the way they take care of omegas here!”<br/>Timidly the boy whispers that he isn’t an omega and turns to leave.<br/>That’s when Kain realizes that the boy is talking, and in the same language as Kain is.<br/>Fluently…</p>
<p>A loud shout is heard from somewhere inside the house, and before Kain can think more about it, he drags the boy with him out into the dark.<br/>He has no idea where they are or where they should go, but the boy grabs his sleeve and starts running.<br/>They run down back alleys and through someone’s garden, keeping to the shadows as much as possible.<br/>Soon they see the wall surrounding the city it’s self, and he remember that it’s only one way in and out if this city.<br/>But the boy leads him down an alley close to the wall, and inside a small building.<br/>They walk trough the only room in the house, and out the back window.<br/>An overgrown garden lays in front of them, filled with familiar smells of herbs and flowers.<br/>The wall looms over them, partly covered by some vine.<br/>When they get up close to it, the boy reveals another small door, hidden behind the vine.<br/>Just as they are crawling trough, an alarm starts blaring.<br/>Kain jumps, but the boy just shakes his head and usher him trough.<br/>On the other side, they are met by Rhys and his gang.<br/>Kain just gapes.</p>
<p>The alpha gives the young boy a ones over, nods at him and tells them to hurry up.<br/>Running along the wall in the dark, Kain gasps after air, feeling tired so tired.<br/>Suddenly he stumbles, and would have fallen to the ground, but a strong arm grabs him around his waste and helps him back up.<br/>He knows that arm.<br/>When they came out from the city wall, he saw Rhys and the rest, he didn’t think of the mute.<br/>The man always ignored him during the day, so he didn’t expect him here.<br/>But he is here helping them now, preventing him from falling and watching his back.<br/>Kain doesn’t want to think about what that makes him feel.</p>
<p>So, he thinks about the boy that had saved him.<br/>Broke him out of his cell, guiding him all the way out of the city.<br/>Why did he do that?<br/>And how did he do that?<br/>And how did Rhys and his gang know where to be?<br/>The boy, Cyrus he suddenly remembers, had left everything behind just to save him.<br/>And deep down, Kain knew the boy could never go back.<br/>Then there was the thing about Cyrus being mute.<br/>Which he definitely wasn’t.<br/>He will have to talk to the boy when things calmed down a little, both to thank him and to learn more about him.<br/>He has a feeling his story wouldn’t be a nice one.</p>
<p>A couple of hour later, they find the rest of the pilgrims hiding in a forest north of the city. <br/>“Kain!”<br/>Melody comes running towards him, throwing her arms around him in a tight hug.<br/>He holds her just as tight back, laughing of joy.<br/>They all made it out!</p>
<p>After Kain had changed into his own clothes and they all where sitting around the fire, he finds out what had happened to the rest of them.<br/>Early that morning, the pilgrims had woken up tied up and dizzy, finding the camp void of omegas.<br/>The small fire the guards kept alive during the nights was almost extinguished, but the smoke coming from it smelled strongly of sugar and almond.<br/>Milo recognized the smell as a strong drug given to people sick with the plague that killed so many people in the south some years ago.<br/>The drug would lessen the pain in the last stages of the illness, making dying easier. <br/>Or, when burned on a fire, evidently making everybody exposed to the smoke fall unconscious.<br/>After killing the fire and letting everyone free, they started searching after the nightguards and the omegas.<br/>Two of three guards were found knocked out behind some big trees, the last one was still missing.<br/>“he sold you out”<br/>Cyrus says looking at the ground.</p>
<p>The words make everybody still.<br/>Lyle, as the missing guard is called, had been with the pilgrims since they started their travels.<br/>He’s close to Rhys and his gang, but not from Taram.<br/>Not everybody had loved the guy, he could be cruel in the way he talked to the women in their group, but he never laid a hand on anybody.<br/>Most of them just thought he was playing though to impress Rhys, because the guy worshiped the man.<br/>And now he has sold them out?<br/>Cyrus hunches his shoulders and tries to make himself look as small as possible, whispering a small sorry at Rhys.<br/>That make the alpha shake of his shock and pull the boy closer by his shoulders.<br/>“you should never say sorry for telling the truth, boy.<br/>Today, you have shown us all how brave you can be, how smart you are and what a good man you are going to grow up to be.<br/>If you say he sold us out, we know that’s what happened.”<br/> With a smile Kain had never seen on their leader, and a quick hug, the boy straightens his stand and grins wide.<br/>They go back to talk about the events from the last day and night.</p>
<p>After finding the guards and checking their supplies, it was decided that a group was going to enter the city to try to figure out what had happened to the missing people.<br/>The rest of them was going to move the camp further inside the forest, waiting and laying low.<br/>Entering the marked to buy new supplies and looking for clues, it didn’t take long before they had some answers. <br/>They had soon heard talk about the new arrivals in the brothel, and that the owner had promised something extraordinary.<br/>Everybody talked about the meeting, some with disgust and some with glee.<br/>After buying some new clothes to better blend in, they sent a scout back to camp to get more men.<br/>The people of Vito were known for their love of silk, which was a far way from the sturdy clothes the pilgrims wore.<br/>Kain thinks about the top and robe he had hidden away in his pack, made of this silk, and feel himself blush a little.</p>
<p>Saving the omegas in these crowds was not going to be easy.<br/>But they were saving them, one way or another.<br/>After Kain did his show, and the women made it of the scene, being strangers inside the city walls became difficult.<br/>The men had split of in smaller groups, trying to confuse the guards long enough to get the women out of there.<br/>Just three of the men stayed behind to see if they could get to Kain, hiding in the shadows and evading the guards.<br/>They knew they had to get out before the sun went down and the gates where closed or risk getting caught.<br/>Leaving the omega behind was not happening, but they had no idea how to get him out.<br/>Just before they gave up for the night, deciding to come back the next day, a young boy had approached them with a plan.<br/>Not seeing any other solution, the men walked out the port to the city with their wagon full of supplies, then coming back later to wait for their last omega.      </p>
<p>After telling his side of the story, the only thing Kain wanted to do was sleep.<br/>But the sun was coming up over the trees, a new day had begun.<br/>The pilgrims wanted to get away from the area as soon as possible, not knowing what the owner of the brothel would do.<br/>Or just how much power the man had, since Kain running away was enough to raise the alarm over the whole city. <br/>And since the road they had planned to take went close to Vito, they even had to take another route, one harder and much longer.<br/>He didn’t know how their leaders had planed their whole journey, how they knew where every small village where or which of the different routes was the best, but he trusted them.<br/>Maybe that was strange, with everything that had happened and still did, but he really did trust them.<br/>So Kain hauled his pack up on his back, prepared for a long day of walking.<br/>He didn’t get far before a hand grabbed his pack from him, the mute walking over to the wagon and placing it there.<br/>Strange.<br/>But Kain was so tired, that he just smiled at the mans back and walked on.</p>
<p>The day never ends.<br/>He’s sure everywhere they went it just went uphill, every hour is two hours long, and it have to have been night one time he had blinked because a day is never this long.<br/>But finally, later than they usually stopped, Rhys found a place he decided was safe.<br/>Kain just sits down where he is, deciding that the grass is good enough to sleep on.<br/>Closing his eyes for just a second, and the next thing he knows, somebody places his pack next to him.<br/>Grumbling his thanks without looking up, he pulls out his blanket and curls up.<br/>Vaguely, he notices that somebody is manhandling him, but the mute does that every night, so he just sleeps on.<br/>The man can pretend he fucks him while he sleeps for all he cares.<br/>Waking up again, he finds himself with his normal sleeping pad below him, blanket tucked closely around him.<br/>He isn’t even sleeping in the same place as he fell asleep, but closer to the fire and further away from the road.<br/>The mute is nowhere to be seen.<br/>He shakes his head to try to wake up enough to make any sense of this, but that just makes him dizzy.<br/>Milo calls him over for breakfast, which he eats slowly while the rest of the camp wakes up.</p>
<p>Among the last ones to get their breakfast, is Cyrus and the mute.<br/>They come over together, the boy talking to the giant in the language Rhys and his gang uses.<br/>Just how may languages does this boy know?</p>
<p>Kain wants to thank the boy for his help, but Cyrus is walking among Rhys and his gang all day, and he really doesn’t want to bother that gang if he doesn’t need to.<br/>Finally, while they are sitting around the fire eating dinner, the opportunity comes.<br/>Rhys calls his gang over to the side of the camp, where they talk quietly among themselves.<br/>Probably talking tactics and plan ahead, like the little war leaders they are.<br/>Kain have to say he really likes having their own security with them, now more than ever.<br/>Brash behavior and the mute aside, they make this travel much safer for them all.<br/>Looking over to the other side of the firepit, he sees Cyrus sitting there alone.<br/>With a smile, he moves over and sits down beside him.<br/>“thank you.<br/>I will never forget what you did for me.<br/>Not only did you break me free and helped me leave the city, you did so leaving your own life behind.<br/>I can never repay you for that.”<br/>He looks into the boy’s eyes the whole time he speaks, trying to convey how serious he is. <br/>“But if there ever is anything I can do for you, help you with or whatever, you just have to ask.”<br/>The boy just gives him a small smile.<br/>“Rhys says you are going to the far east to start a new life, and that is all I want.<br/>And I didn’t really leave anything behind, being beta in a brothel full of omegas doesn’t give you any favors”<br/>Kain sees how broken down and tired the boy is, so he scoots closer and lay an arm over the boy’s shoulders, pulling him close.<br/>“not that I know what a beta is, but here in our group stuff like that doesn’t matter... much…”<br/>That makes the boy giggling a little, and Kain must look as confused as he feels, because one look at his face and Cyrus loses it.<br/>He laughs so hard he falls of the log he is sitting on, howling into the night.<br/>And when he finally calms down, he explains that if you’re not an omega or an alpha, you are a beta.<br/>Several of the other pilgrims that are close by also laughs a little, and even Kain have to smile.<br/>Even if his smile is because of the happiness the young boy shows.<br/>He doesn’t care that it comes from his own ignorance.<br/>Ruffling the boy’s hair, he shakes his head and says a good night before going to bed.<br/>Or, going to curl up under his blanket, at least.</p>
<p>His body is tired and acing, but his mind is running wild making sleep difficult.<br/>And for the second time ever, he’s still awake when his sleeping companion shows up.<br/>He just makes room for him, finding the familiar heat behind his back calming.  <br/>But this night, after opening his own pants, the mute carefully opened his to, pulling in down to his mid thigh.<br/>Resigned, he thinks that this is it, he would finally get raped.<br/>This gives more sense.<br/>After the show he had put on in Vito, it kind of made sense that the man lost his last inhibitions.<br/>Kain can’t even blame the man, it’s a long time since Kain have put up a fight, just letting the man take what he wants.<br/>Like a good pliant omega…</p>
<p>He can feel the hard dick poking him, smearing him with precum.<br/>Slowly, the mute press close, but instead of pushing inside, he pushes in between his thighs. <br/>With a grunt, he starts to fuck him like that, one arm sneaking under his head to hold him close, the other moving down to his hip.<br/>Long, deep trusts, the man’s dick meeting his balls with every trust.<br/>This is kind of disgusting, kind of strange, but not bad.<br/>Not at all.<br/>His breath leaves him with a huff and a strange questioning noise, but the mute doesn’t respond.<br/>Just trusts faster, grunting with every trust.<br/>He has given up on understanding this man and let him do as he pleases.<br/>After coming, the man smears his cum all over his ass, pull up their pants and pull him close to sleep.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0011"><h2>11. Chapter 11</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>11.</p>
<p>For the next week or so, nothing out of ordinary happens.<br/>Well, if you don’t think about the mute, anyhow.<br/>Kain is used to the man ignoring him during the day and fucking his tights before holding him during the night.<br/>Yeah, the man had continued to use his tights instead of his own hand since the first time, which didn’t change anything.<br/>Really, the warmth pooling in his groin didn’t count, that was just an automatic reaction of the closeness of it all.<br/>No, the real difference in the mute was the way he behaved during the day.<br/>Kain could feel the man’s eyes on him the whole time, burning holes in his neck.<br/>And, if they happen to cross path, the man looked at him with hate and disgust.<br/>Talk about being two different persons in one.</p>
<p>So, nothing out of the ordinary happen for about a week’s time.<br/>They are still moving uphill, that is not something Kain had dreamed up that first day, greenery giving way to more rocks and sand.<br/>Dark mountains close in on them, a small stream dividing the valley in two.<br/>Crocked trees and bare bushes lined the stream, dressed for the winter, only a few green and yellow leaves stubbornly holding on.<br/>Small patches of flowers and grass brakes up the endless shades of gray, with new and unknown plants sparkling a curiosity in Kain.   </p>
<p>Then, as Kain and Cyrus is taking a little detour from the rest of them to pick some wild garlics they had smelled, something growls loud before jumping out from behind a rock.<br/>Kain doesn’t know what it is, it’s not an animal he has seen before, making him freeze for a second.<br/>Whatever it is, it’s big and have a lot of sharp teeth, and it’s staring directly at Cyrus.<br/>Another loud growl leaves it’s mouth, before it tries to attack the boy.<br/>But Kain has gained back the control of his body, and without thinking about it he barrels into the side of the animal.<br/>There is a loud snapping sound coming from Kain’s arm, but it had made the animal miss the boy.<br/>Kain rolls over trying to get up before the animal turns, but with his broken arm it takes too long, and he finds himself on his back with feral eyes and a lot of sharp teeth over him.<br/>This time, it’s Cyrus that shouts, before hitting the animal in the head with a large branch.<br/>Something cracks, and before the animal collapses on top of him, Kain think it’s the branch.<br/>He finds his face covered in blood and fur and probably other things he doesn’t want to think about, desperately trying to breath without too much of it entering his mouth. <br/>Then the heavy animal was pushed of him, Rhys and another of his friends looking down on him.<br/>He really has to learn the names of the people he was traveling with!</p>
<p>They don’t have garlic at dinner that night.</p>
<p>After straightening his arm as much as he can and putting on his old leather sleeve, Kain spent a long time cleaning his face in the stream before giving up.<br/>The arm hurt like hell, and even if he did spend the rest of the day bunkered up in the wagon, all he wants to do now is sleep.<br/>Finding a place flat enough to sleep on is not as easy as it normally is, the space between the narrow road and the steep hills up to the mountain close together.<br/>Before he manages to find a spot himself, the mute drags both their pack over to a small plot of gras, and that’s that. <br/>So, after ones again thanking Cyrus for saving his life, again, he goes to sleep.<br/>When he wakes up from a nightmare in the middle of the night, he automatic turns around and hides his face in the crock of the mute’s neck.<br/>Strong arms pull him even closer, before he falls back asleep.<br/>He doesn’t quite understand why the mute is treating him like this, but he can no longer fear the man. <br/>The shared warmth at night helps him sleep, leaving him with more energy to cope trough the days.</p>
<p>It’s getting cold during the nights now, winter falling over them.<br/>Most of them now used a tarp making some kind of shelter from the wind and cold, and a couple of new regular tents also shows up.<br/>Most of the year, it’s more comfortable and easier to just sleep under the sky, but during the coldest months some sort of shelter is necessary.  <br/>This also gives the illusion of privacy, and Kain no longer feels put on a spot.<br/>And then they wake up to a white ground and snow whirling around, forcing them to stay put for a couple of days.<br/>The wind is howling, like wolves under the moon, trapped by the mountains blocking them in.<br/>Soon tents and tarps are covered in snow, stopping the wind from blowing through them, and actually making it warmer inside.<br/>The firepit goes cold, and the guards are forced inside.<br/>When they wake up the next morning, everything is quiet.<br/>The wind is gone, and the snow have stopped falling, but it’s still freezing.<br/>After shoveling the snow out of the way, leaving small paths running around in the camp all leading to the ones again lit firepit, everybody gathered around the heat.<br/>Milo makes a simple soup, from whatever they reach in the wagon, and everybody hums in joy from the taste and heat.<br/>Ever since they entered this valley, the wagon has been covered in a tarp day and night.<br/>It has protected everything inside it, but with all the snow and wind, it’s now more or less covered in ice.<br/>The tents and other shelters are also partly covered in ice, but everybody made sure to keep the openings clear.<br/>Nobody thought about the wagon, so now they have to be satisfied with whatever they reach.<br/>Not that Kain is complaining, with the cook’s magical hands and last winter in mind, this is a feast.    <br/>Huddling together around the fire or curling up under their blankets isn’t enough to keep Kain’s memories from last winter a bay though.<br/>He wakes up screaming the second night, shaking in the mute’s arm for a long time before falling back asleep. <br/>The sun melts the snow and ice away the next day, getting them all back on track.</p>
<p>Cyrus spends his days between talking and helping Kain and walking among Rhys friends talking to them.<br/>After they set camp, the boy has taken to talk with the mute.<br/>In the beginning Kain thinks the boy is talking to the mute, but after some time it’s obvious that the mute talks back.<br/>Not with words, of course, but with different moves made with his hands.<br/>And even if he tries to leave the two be, it’s so fascinating to watch that he catches himself watching them almost every evening.<br/>Cyrus is making these movement with his hands at the same time as he speaks, and Kain could probably learn some of the signals if he had dared to watch more closely.<br/>But he can’t get himself to do that either, not wanting to disturb their private conversations.</p>
<p>The mute still looks at him with hate and disgust during the days, but most mornings Kain finds himself with his face in the crock of the others neck.<br/>And with the realization that he doesn’t fear the man anymore, it becomes harder to pretend he doesn’t get aroused under their nightly routine.<br/>It starts as a little tingle in his groin, to his dick twitching a little from the stimuli to his balls.<br/>Then, as the first week goes in to the second, shivers run down his spine when the mute stutters and comes.<br/>And now, when the mute’s breathing calms down and the man falls asleep, Kain stays wide awake with a full-on boner for some time.<br/>He knows he should feel ashamed and humiliated, being turned on by the man using him, but there are other thoughts that bothered him these nights.<br/>Why is the mute doing this in the first place? <br/>It’s clear that the man hates Kain, and he doesn’t technically rape him.<br/>It’s more like he’s protecting him.<br/>No, this is getting out of hand.<br/>Kain is not really believing the man is protecting him by forcing himself on him, even if it had started out as just pretending to fuck him.<br/>The man is forcing himself on Kain either way.<br/>Besides, as already said, the man hates Kain.</p>
<p>After almost two weeks of sleeping on hard dirt or rocks, with dark mountains looming over them, it’s like everybody lighten up when their sleeping pads are laid on grass instead.<br/>It’s like the world around them comes back to life, even if rotten leaves cover the withered grass.<br/>The sun still warms his face during the days, but the cold wind curls under his clothes and makes his bones ache.<br/>It doesn’t seem like there would be any more snow, the weather not quiet cold enough, but his toes and fingers still turn blue on the coldest days.</p>
<p>Kain still holds on to the thought that the mute hates him and only use him for some unknown reason, but its getting harder and harder to tell his body that.<br/>Literally harder…<br/>He has to stop himself from taking himself in hand more than ones, his fists shaking with the need to do so.<br/>But he refuses, that is one step he’s not going to take.<br/>Then one night, while in the middle of thrusting, the mute moves his hand a little and it brush against his dick.<br/>Everything stops, before a low rumbling sound leave the mute and he starts up again.<br/>He doesn’t touch his dick, but his rhythm slows down, like he’s taking his time enjoying the act itself and not just the end result.<br/>Which is both good and bad for Kain.<br/>On the good side, it takes much longer to reach the end.<br/>On the bad side, it takes much longer to reach the end.<br/>Kain’s whole body is singing, small breathy pants leaving him before the mute finally comes.<br/>Shaking, he spends a long time calming down.<br/>But unlike before, the mute stays awake with him, littering his neck with small kisses, and rumbling deep in his chest.</p>
<p>When Kain finally wakes up the next day, he’s alone for the first time in a long time.<br/>The only glimpse he gets of the mute throughout the day, is his back when he run of with the regular scouts.<br/>Kain have never seen the mute go scouting before, and as the day goes on, he feels the shame and humiliation build inside.<br/>When they set camp for the night, he volunteers to get wood for the fire, and sneaks away.<br/>Since leaving the valley behind, the trees grow in numbers and height, making the task easier.<br/>“you know, Brin really likes you.”<br/>Twirling around, he sees Cyrus standing there looking serious.<br/>“he feels drawn to you but doesn’t know why or how to communicate with you.<br/>That’s why he acts like he does.”<br/>The mute’s name is Brin?<br/>With a short laugh and a shake of his head, he turns around wanting to walk away.<br/>“I don’t know what the two of you have been talking about but forcing himself on someone is never the right way to communicate.”<br/>He probably shouldn’t have said something like that to someone who was technically a child, but Cyrus had been living in a brothel and was not some naïve toddler.<br/>“he tries to protect you, traveling in a group like this without suppressing your heat is not wise.”<br/>With that, the boy walks away.<br/>Heat? Suppressing heat?<br/>Kain suddenly realizes the downside of growing up in a small village, sheltered from the big bad world outside.<br/>He feels stupid, he hasn’t had a heat since before he was kidnaped, and he hadn’t thought about it even one time.<br/>Why hadn’t he had a heat in that long?<br/>And if he has had a heat at the time the mute… Brin had crawled under his blanket that first time he would have known.<br/>Wouldn’t he?</p>
<p>He is so lost in thought that he doesn’t come back to himself before he is back in camp with his arms full of wood.<br/>The food tastes nothing, feels like lead in his stomach.<br/>He spends the night looking at the tarp above him, not noticing time going by before the sun turned the sky from black to blue and the birds woke up.<br/>Cyrus stays away the whole day, which works fine for him, since he wants to be left alone anyway.<br/>The boy, who have seen how they treated omegas at the brothel had the nerve to say that Brin forcing himself on him was his own fault.<br/>That by fucking his hand the man had saved him.<br/>He is so angry that he skips dinner all together, pulling his blanket over his head and forcing himself to sleep.<br/>It isn’t before he wakes up alone, that it occurs to him that Brin have stayed away for the last two nights.<br/>Figures.<br/>Works for him.</p>
<p>A shout wakes him up the next night, but when he opens his eyes, he doesn’t see anything.<br/>Everything is black, but he can hear people moving around, whispering and muffled groans.<br/>But this is not the sounds of sex, not consensual or forced.<br/>This is an attack.<br/>Blinking, his eyes gets used to the dark, and he can see figures walking around in the camp, searching.<br/>He tries shakes Brin awake, forgetting the man isn’t there anymore.<br/>Carefully he stands up and starts to sneak up on the attackers and taking them out one bye one.<br/>A quick tap with his fingers at the right place under the chin, and the men fell like dead.<br/>They weren’t, but unconscious is better than fighting.<br/>A scream coming from the sister’s tent wakes everybody up at ones.<br/>Chaos breaks loos, nobody sneaking anymore.<br/>But after only a few minutes it’s over, the few attackers still being alive running away.<br/>Seeing as several of pilgrims have gotten hurt, Kain gets out his equipment and starts working on the wounded.</p>
<p>“no!”<br/>A broken sob fills the air, making everybody turn towards the sound.<br/>There, outside the sister’s tent, Melody is kneeling with a small body in her arms.<br/>Despite the mournful sounds coming from the woman, Kain runs over to see what he can do.<br/>But there is nothing left to do, the boy having a knife lodge in his chest.<br/>Vacant eyes and some blood dripping out of his mouth shows that it’s nothing anybody can do.<br/>Falling to his knees, tears running freely down his cheeks Kain just sits there.<br/>The whole camp has gone dead silent, the only sounds coming from the young omega.<br/>Kain can’t do anything, he just sits there on the ground looking at the boy he has come to love so much.<br/>Everybody loved Cyrus.<br/>Slowly people manage to shake out of it and starts doing whatever had to be done.<br/>Like patching up some small wounds, removing bodies and making breakfast.<br/>It was not difficult to find out who the attackers were, from their soft clothes and the letter found on one of the bodies saying that they had taken back their property, namely the omegas.<br/>And through it all, Melody and Kain just sat there, one holding the boy and the other lost in his grieve.  <br/>Kain can’t believe the last time he spoke to the boy they where arguing.<br/>Cyrus had saved him, two times, focusing more on the people around him then himself.<br/>And now the boy was dead, protecting the tent from grown up attackers.     </p>
<p>It’s not before Rhys comes over and carefully lifts the boy up from Melody’s lap, that Kain comes back to himself.<br/>Without anything being said, everybody follows Rhys when he walks out of the camp.<br/>There is a river close by, and under a huge tree on the shore there is a grave made ready.<br/>With a cloth, they clean up the boy as much as they can, before their leader carefully lovers him down.<br/>Everybody stands around quietly watching as the grave is filled back with the soil that was left at the side.<br/>When he can’t see the boy anymore, Kain’s knees buckles under him.<br/>And if the now familiar arms didn’t wrap around him, he would have crumbled to the ground.<br/>Now he just let himself lean back on Brin’s chest, his arms holding on to the ones around him.<br/>They stand like that until the soil has filled in the hole, when stones in different sizes is heaped on top, until they are the last ones standing there.<br/>None of them are saying a word, not even when they break apart and goes back to the camp.<br/>At the campsite, people are sitting close and talking calmly together.<br/>Milo have made some food, but there is not a lot of it being eaten.<br/>All of them stay like that, taking comfort in each other.<br/>Eventually the sun goes down, and Milo serves up some of that heady soup he had made, that would taste delicious on any other day.<br/>Kain still eats two full bowls, knowing that Cyrus would lecture him for not taking care of himself if he could.<br/>When he goes over to his pack to curl up under his blanket, he barely gives Brin the time to lay down before he presses close and hides his face under the other mans chin.<br/>They stay like that, just being close, until sleep finally finds them.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0012"><h2>12. Chapter 12</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>12.</p>
<p>It takes some time before Kain is able to do more than moving through the days on autopilot.<br/>Eating, walking, and doing his job, not tasting the food, or seeing the nature around him.<br/>Not smelling the herbs or flowers.<br/>He just feels numb.<br/>Even at the worst times at the quarry, he never felt this lost.<br/>So, during the days, he walks around with a brain dipped in syrup.<br/>Nighttime is something different though.<br/>When he lays under his blanket and tries to sleep, all he can think about is Cyrus.<br/>The bravest and nicest person he has ever met.</p>
<p>Luckily, Brin comes to him every night.<br/>Think what a difference a day could make, from feeling hatred for the man to rely on him to get some sleep in the night.<br/>Actually, he had to admit that he didn’t really hate Brin before Cyrus died, he just wanted to.<br/>Brin still hadn’t done anything more than hold him during these nights.<br/>Just tucks Kain under his chin and holds him close.<br/>The by now familiar sent of cedar calming down the thoughts spiraling around in Kain’s head. <br/>During the days, the man keeps close to him, all hints of hate and disgust gone from his face.<br/>It doesn’t feel like Brin is keeping close just to take care of him either, but that maybe he also needed to be close to Kain.<br/>He couldn’t be sure, so lost in his own mind that he where, but on more than one occasion, he caught the man reaching for his hand before pulling back.<br/>Maybe the man also needed comfort?<br/>Brin had spent a lot of time with the boy, Cyrus even capable of talking with him. <br/>Either way, Kain found himself sitting down next to Brin around the fire, not only for his own comfort but also to give some to the alpha. </p>
<p>Even with the increased numbers of nightguards, Brin never have a nightshift.<br/>He stays with Kain each night, his strong arms holding Kain together.<br/>Why he had fallen apart like this, he doesn’t really understand.<br/>Of all the things that had happened to him, the death of a young boy he had known for just a few weeks broke him.<br/>It didn’t quiet make sense, but there where not a lot Kain could do about it.<br/>Just try to endure it, and hopefully work through it.</p>
<p>The only time Brin really leave Kain’s side, is when Rhys called for a war meeting as Milo calls it.<br/>Every night after dinner is eaten, Rhys gathers his inner circle to the side of the camp.<br/>They talk about how to keep the pilgrims safe, and what had gone wrong in the past.<br/>Two times now, the camp have been attacked during the night, without the nightguards being able to stop them.<br/>Or even alert the rest of the pilgrims.<br/>The attackers from Vito had shown a great skillset, normally only shown by professional military or the like.<br/>And since Rhys and his gang have background in just that, having worked as mercenaries for years, they know they can’t just let this go.<br/>It turns out that they where hired for this journey, both to guide and protect the pilgrims. <br/>That had both been a surprise, and at the same time made a lot of sense.<br/>When he had seen the group that first time, they where running in with guns and explosions, rescuing some man from the quarry.<br/>Then they had shown up as pilgrims, going to the far east…<br/>So, finding out they where mercenaries, doesn’t shock him.<br/>Finding out that it was the three sisters that had originally hired them, on the other hand, was not expected.  </p>
<p>So, the other side of their meetings, the planning of what to do with the kidnappers, give even more sense knowing that.<br/>With Melody not only being an omega, but also one of the kidnapped one, it made sure of that.<br/>It would not have been the first time the group from Vito had done this to steal some omegas, and it would not be the last, if they weren’t stopped.<br/>So, in addition to increase the number of guards during both night and daytime, plans were maid to stop these kidnappings for good.</p>
<p>Two of the scouts had left the day after they buried Cyrus, each with letters to deliver to known allies of Rhys group.<br/>And this evening, the first wagon filled with burly men overloaded with weapon have arrived camp. <br/>Not that Kain had even noticed, but even if they walked for hours each day, they didn’t really move further away from Vito. <br/>They where circling around it, coming back at a new angle, getting ready for war.<br/>At least, that’s what it feels like.<br/>Now, they have set camp in a clearing, surrounded by a steep mountainside to two sides and a river to the south, making the camp easy to protect.</p>
<p>Since more and more people joins the camp, the overall feeling changes.<br/>Pilgrims wanting a new life in one corner, the mercenaries in the other.<br/>But even if this warfare means that they will arrive at their destination later than planed, no one complains.<br/>At least not so Kain hears it.<br/>Cyrus had been easy to love, but it was more than that.<br/>Rhys and his gang had worked as their leaders and guards, being hired for the job, but their willingness to spend time and energy in getting the omegas back had shown that this no longer was just a job for them.<br/>So, the pilgrims take the delay in their journey and the almost invading of their camp with ease.</p>
<p>Of course, over the week it takes for all the allies to arrive, there are several unwanted episodes, but nothing too severe.<br/>Just some flirting with women that maybe don’t wanted to be flirted with, some extra drinking in the evenings, and Sol did not need to go without work.   <br/>During the days, groups of men went out hunting, coming back with more meat than they could eat, even with all the new men coming in.<br/>So, Milo pulls out his special tent, and fills the camp with the delicious smells of drying meat and those special woodchips of his, making his stomach growl. </p>
<p>The evening before the mercenaries is planning to leave for Vito, a group of alphas manages to corner Kain.<br/>“look at that.<br/>A sweat omega smelling like that, left all by himself…”<br/>The alpha that spoke is not much lager that Kain, even if he acts like he is.<br/>“a little thing like you shouldn’t even be on the road like this, where is you alpha, boy?”<br/>A laughter bobbles out of Kain, half in amusement and half in disbelief.<br/>With a simple series of moves, he has the alpha pinned to the ground and no amount of wiggling gets the man free.<br/>“I don’t have or need an alpha, and what I smell are none of yours business.<br/>Besides, that group you guys are here to fight against, have exactly those thoughts about omegas.<br/>Thinking of us a fragile and pliant.<br/>Are you thinking of switching sides?”<br/>With a leer Kain lets the man go, before staring every alpha there down until they walk away.<br/>Except the oldest one.<br/>“just so you know, wandering around alone so close to your heat is really stupid.<br/>Almost as stupid as traveling like this without using heat suppressants.”<br/>With that, Kain is left alone.<br/>He really needs to figure out about what these suppressants are…<br/>And is it really time for a new heat already?<br/>Deciding to talk to Melody the next day, he finishes his nightly routine and finds his pack.</p>
<p>That night, when Brin pushes his nose under his chin and takes a deep breath before rumbling a little, he realizes that maybe the alphas was right.<br/>But the heat had went well last time, so he figured it would be okay this time too.</p>
<p>The next morning, Brin is reluctant to let Kain go.<br/>Rumbling while he’s nosing his neck, not letting Kain up before he manages to squeeze out between giggles that he almost pees himself.<br/>And when the group is ready to leave, Brin caresses the same spot with an obvious question on his face.<br/>“it’s okay, Brin.<br/>I will be okay.”<br/>Kain almost believes it himself, too.</p>
<p>Even if the mercenaries have made it clear that he was going in to heat at any time now, it manages to sneak up on him without him noticing.<br/>He has been even more cranky than normal the night before, grumbling over the lack of fresh vegetables in their dinner, making Milo smirk.<br/>The both of them know very vel that fresh vegetables in wintertime, while on the road, is not going to happen.<br/>And Kain eats even more food than he normally does, so the cook doesn’t even pretend to be hurt about it.<br/>Waking up, Kain finds out that it’s much later than he normally wakes up, but since they’re not going anywhere, he doesn’t care much.<br/>He spends the day walking around in the forest around them, not even pretending to do anything productive.<br/>His skin is itching, and he feels so restless but at the same time so tired.</p>
<p>The sound of running water makes him change his course a little, soon finding a stream with water slowly moving by.<br/>Sitting on a rock for a while, he just breath.<br/>Not wanting to see anyone, he dreams of finding a little cave or something to hide in.<br/>But even so, a nagging feeling in the back of his head tells him to go back to the camp. <br/>Reluctantly he walks in that direction, absentmindedly pressing a hand at his dick.<br/>A shiver runs up his spine, a breathy moan leaving him.<br/>Shit.<br/>How far away from the camp is he?<br/>This could get dangerous.<br/>An omega in heat inside the campground is far from ideal, but an omega in heat alone in an unknown forest is much worse.<br/>He doesn’t want anything more than to loos his pants and push a couple of fingers inside himself, but his instinct reminds him of why he can’t do that.<br/>But rubbing himself while walking is a different story, he doesn’t think he can stop that even if he tried.<br/>He doesn’t try, and after just a few minutes he bit his lips to stop himself from groaning loud as he comes.<br/>In his pants.<br/>While he walks.</p>
<p>It helps to clear his head, but just for a few minutes, before his dick hardens again.<br/>These few minutes is enough for him to realize that he is fucked.<br/>If he’s so out if it already now, just at the beginning of his heat, how is he going to live through this?<br/>He wishes he had taken this more seriously, maybe tried to make some plan for how he where going to spend his heats, seeing as he knew this journey would take so long that he would have at least a couple of them on the road.<br/>How indifferent had he been, not even considering the fact that he is an omega when he decided to go on this journey? </p>
<p>Finally, he stumbles into the camp.<br/>It feels like everybody turns to look at him, but he knows just alphas and other omegas can smell the heat on him.<br/>Luckily, most of the alphas are gone now, heading for Vito.<br/>His vision is blurring, but he manages to find his pack and curls up under his blanket. <br/>A tear runs down his cheek, everything hurts, and he doesn’t want to do this.<br/>Not alone, and not here.<br/>Luckily, it’s getting late, people settling down for the night.<br/>For each minute that passes by, the pain and panic worsen.<br/>He can’t calm down. <br/>Lust running havoc through his body, his dick throbbing almost painfully. <br/>Looking around, he can see that most of the guys huddling down under their blankets now. <br/>Not everyone is asleep, but there is no way he can wait any longer. <br/>Just going to sleep is out of the question, his hand sneaking under his pants and grabbing his dick hard. <br/>Going slow is not an option either, precum making the glide smooth. <br/>A twist of his wrist makes his eyes roll. <br/>His mouth falls open. <br/>The groan he barely manages to hold back, makes him close his mouth abruptly, his hand freezing when somebody looms over him.<br/>Brin looks down at him, his stoic face betraying no feelings. <br/>His hand starts moving again, humility burning his face red. <br/>Brin lays down in front of him, still looking him in the eyes. <br/>Slowly, a small smile opens over Brin’s face. <br/>Not a cruel one, or a mocking one. <br/>No, the smile felt kind and safe, comforting him.<br/>Even with the hate and disgust now gone from Brin’s face, a smile like this is not something Kain has seen before. <br/>His hand was flying over his dick now, he’s almost there, his orgasm close. <br/>So close… <br/>He just needs… just… a hand grabs the back of his neck, squeezing it, and that is enough to make stars erupt before his eyes. <br/>His whole body convulses with his orgasm, air leaving him in a huff… <br/>The hand on his neck slide down to his lower back, pulling him close to the strong body beside him. <br/>Heavy eyes fluttered close as he burrowed closer still, arms holding on tight. <br/>He can feel the dread of what he has just done in the back of his head, but that can wait until tomorrow. <br/>Now he just wants to sleep… <br/>The last thing he registers before falling asleep, is soft lips brushing his temple.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>I have so many ideas for continuing this story, and have all ready written several oneshots, so I hope you like my universe so much that you want to read more when this main story is done!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0013"><h2>13. Chapter 13</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>13.</p>
<p>When he wakes up the next morning, he’s alone.<br/>Groggily he looks around, did he dream that Brin came back last night?<br/>They didn’t know how long it would take Rhys and the rest to take out those from Vito, but nobody expected them back so shortly.<br/>He must have dreamt it.<br/>There is no mistaking his heat now.<br/>Sweat is running down his neck, his pants are sticky on both the front and the back, his dick hard and aching.<br/>But he’s in control for now, so taking a dip in the stream he saw last night sounds good.<br/>Maybe ask Milo if it’s possible to borrow his tent, or something.<br/>His face heats up even more, when he thinks back at what he did the night before.<br/>It would be best both for him, and the rest of the group, if he could tuck away for a couple of days.</p>
<p>Just as he gets up to go look for the cook, the man walks up to him.<br/>Together with Brin…<br/>“hey, Kain?”<br/>The cook looks a little embarrass, scratching his neck and not looking him in the eyes.<br/>“the mute wants to know if you want him to take care of you with your heat.”<br/>Blinking, Kain looks between the men.<br/>“his name is Brin, and what do you mean take care of me?”<br/>His vision is getting a little fussy, soon he will be lost in his own world.<br/>“and how du you know what he wants?”<br/>He stumbles a little, but Brin is there to steady him.<br/>“look, Cyrus taught me some of this hand- language, and the mu… eh. <br/>Brin was really persistent.<br/>Do you want his help? You know, satisfy all your needs and whatever...<br/>He has a horse ready to take you wherever, I don’t know, I don’t understand that much...<br/>But it looks like you have to decide now, it’s him or maybe my tent or something…”<br/>The cook shudders at the thought of someone spending their heat in his tent, but he won’t have to.<br/>Swaying, he looks into Brin’s yes, and all he can do is nod.<br/>Strong arms fold him in, and that deep rumbling is back.<br/>His knees buckle and he lets out a high whine in the back of his throat.</p>
<p>Closing his eyes, he feels the big man lift him up like he weighs nothing, and when he opens them again, he’s sitting on a horse with a broad chest at his back.<br/>Kain is burning up now, shaking with need.<br/>The musky smell of cedar and alpha and safe making him both calmer and more desperate at the same time.<br/>The movements of the horse walking feel good, but it’s not enough.<br/>Wiggling where he sits, the friction sending sparks up his spine, making tears well up.<br/>But before he can do anything else, Brin starts rumbling again, and the arm around his waist pulls him even closer before so moving away.<br/>Panic curses trough Kain, what is Brin doing?<br/>Then he feels a hand sneaking down his pant, grabbing a hold of his dick.<br/>Brin just holds him in a firm grip, not jacking him of at all, but somehow it helps.<br/>The panic disappears, calming his breath somewhat, and he blinks his eyes open.<br/>Oh.<br/>They are riding down a dirt road, tall trees lining it.<br/>And ahead of them, a small family walk towards them.<br/>Yeah.<br/>Those children do not need to see how needy he is, or his dick or his wiggling.<br/>He takes a deep breath and tries to give them a smile when they pas.<br/>The father is giving them a stink eye, but it doesn’t look like the kids catch anything strange, and that’s good enough.<br/>It’s not even a minute later when Brin starts to slowly jack him of.<br/>Kain let’s his head fall back against him; his mouth falls open and his eyes closes.<br/>The slow jacking, in the same tempo as the horse walk, is both torture and heaven.<br/>He can feel Brin being hard behind him too, his dick pressing against his lower back.<br/>It last forever and is over all to soon, ending in an explosion of stars.<br/>Every muscle in his body goes lacks, but that is okay because Brin is there.<br/>He will look after him.<br/>That is something Kain is sure of, he trusts himself with this man.<br/>Brin will keep him safe.<br/>Just like he has been doing for so long.        </p>
<p>He doesn’t know how much time have past by, when the horse slows down and stops.<br/>Kain blinks his eyes open and sees that they are outside of a small cabin, trees all around them.<br/>Somehow, Brin manages to get them both of the horse without any of them falling, and then carries Kain inside.<br/>Inside, the cabin is warm, the fireplace not yet cold after it was used last time.<br/>Kain then finds himself lying on a bed, naked as the day he was born.<br/>Where did his clothes go?<br/>Then Brin is leaning over him, he too without clothes, and all Kain can see, feel, and taste is the alpha.<br/>Lips suck at his neck, hands working their way up his side in a firm caress.<br/>The rumbling coming from Brin is getting deeper and louder, as the man pins him to the bed.<br/>He wiggles desperate, but for what he doesn’t know.<br/>He has never spent his heat with anyone before, certainly not an alpha.<br/>But it seems like Brin knows what he’s doing, sensing his desperation, and not lingering with his caresses.<br/>A finger slowly enters him, making his breath hitch.<br/>The man starts of slowly, moving in and out and getting familiar with Kain’s inside.<br/>But soon, three fingers pumps in deep, scissoring and making him ready.<br/>Kain can barley breath, hands grabbing the sheets, his eyes squeezed shut.<br/>Fingers is replaced with a wonderfully big dick, familiar but yet so unknown.<br/>It takes an excruciatingly long time before Brin bottom, but when he does, they both moans loud.<br/>After that, there is just delicious friction, skin against skin and moans and keens.<br/>Kain comes twice, Brin not slowing down, before he feels the dick inside of him swelling at the base.<br/>The knot.<br/>He has never felt a knot before, never had sex with an alpha, but god does he want it now.<br/>He wants it pushed deep inside him, locking the two of them together.<br/>And he wants it right now!<br/>The whine he makes is higher than he has ever heard before, the answering rumble from the alpha makes his eyes roll back in his head.<br/>One last thrust, the knot too swollen to pull out, and then he feels Brin empty himself deep within him.<br/>His whole body spasms and he comes harder than he has ever done before.</p>
<p>When he comes back to himself, Brin is peppering his back with kisses, slowly moving in and out of him. <br/>Didn’t he lay on his back when they fucked?<br/>It doesn’t really matter, he can feel his orgasm building rapidly, even with the slow and tender fucking they do.<br/>Tender?<br/>Keening high, he pushes back wanting more, wanting faster, wanting harder.<br/>Brin obliges, rumbling and moaning and making more noise that Kain have ever heard from him before.<br/>He can feel the knot growing again, that delicious knot stretching his rim with every thrust.<br/>Frantically he grabs his dick, jacking himself hard.<br/>With a last hard thrust, Brin bites down on his neck, and ones again he explodes before everything goes black.</p>
<p>Brin is not in bed with him the next time he wakes up, making him panic for a second.<br/>Then he remembers that he is a grown-up omega, that he doesn’t need an alpha, and that Brin isn’t his alpha even if he needed one.<br/>And he definitely needs one!<br/>Now!<br/>Tears runs down his cheek, as he sits up and looks around.<br/>Brin is nowhere to be seen, and there is just one room in this cabin.<br/>He must have left him!<br/>Then the door opens, and Brin comes in with his arms full of chopped wood.<br/>Right.<br/>Embarrassed Kain shakes his head.<br/>So much for being a grown-up omega.</p>
<p>The big man drops the wood the second he sees Kain and is by his side in an instance.<br/>Arms cradles his face and brushes away his tears.<br/>Kain tries to hide his face, but the man just sinks to his knees so he can see his eyes anyway.<br/>A question is said unsaid, Brin searching his face for answers.<br/>“you weren’t her, and I’m just stupid.”<br/>Sobbing Kain buries his face in Brin’s chest.<br/>“Sorry.”<br/>Strong arms pull him in, and that musky cedar fills his nose.<br/>Curling up on the mans lap, Kain finally starts to relax.<br/>They stay like that until Kain is breathing normally again, before Brin lays him back in bed and shed his own clothes.</p>
<p>For the first time, Kain takes time to really look at the guy. <br/>He knew the man had broad shoulders and strong everything, but is was something else to see it.<br/>Seeing the bulging biceps, the massive chest filled with light curly hair, an amazing six pack split in half by a happy trail leading down to that wonderful dick.<br/>Toned thighs and massive legs finishes what has to be the perfect example of mankind. <br/>Kain is salivating.<br/>Need builds up more and more, and now he definitely needs an alpha!<br/>Brin smiles before crawling up the bed until he’s hovering over him, just looking.<br/>Without really thinking about it, Kain trails his hands over all the skin he can reach, marveling over the feeling.<br/>His dick is aching, and slick is dripping out of him, but that’s not important now.<br/>Tanned skin and muscles moving under his fingers much more interesting for a while.</p>
<p>Brin slowly lovers himself until their noses is nearly touching, looking on his eyes asking for permission.<br/>In stead of saying anything, Kain lifts his head the last few centimeters and kiss him.<br/>Lips brushing lips slowly, then again, and again.<br/>Feeling bolder, and wanting more, Kain moves his arms around Brin’s neck and pulls him down, licking the mans lover lip.<br/>With a small groan, Brin easily welcomes the other in, and the kisses turns hungry.<br/>The man tastes as good as he smells, Brin losing himself in the feeling, wanting more and more.<br/>By now, his hole is clenching down on nothing, making it clear that kissing is not enough anymore.<br/>Not being able to lay still anymore, but not willing to stop kissing, Kain wiggles and tries to at least get some friction on his dick.<br/>But it’s not enough.<br/>Again, Brin knows exactly what he needs, and lowers himself letting more of his weight rest on Kain.<br/>Thrusting against the other man, Kain shivers from the delicious feeling of their dick gliding side by side, thoroughly guided by copious amounts of preecum.<br/>After a few minutes like that, Brin movers to kiss down his neck before continuing further down.<br/>He plays with his nipples, licking and blowing and gently biting down.<br/>Kain is a wriggling mess, panting and throwing his head from side to side.<br/>It’s too much and not enough, and he can’t do more than just take it.<br/>Leaving his nipples, the man kisses a trail down his ribs, circling his navel before licking at his head.<br/>Kain moans high, again, and tries to thrust up.<br/>But Brin holds him down, licks his dick from root to tip before swallowing him down.<br/>And Kain isn’t small, his dick dipping down the mans throat.<br/>That is all it takes, Kain shouts and comes almost violently.<br/>Breathing heavily, he opens his eyes and looks down to where Brin is sitting, wondering what the man is up to.</p>
<p>Suddenly, he is face down and ass up, and Brin is diving in between his cheeks.<br/>Howling when that wonderful tongue pushes inside, Kain feels his dick growing rock hard in the matter of seconds. <br/>Deep growling can be heard from the alpha, while he licks and probes and eat him out like it’s all he ever wanted.<br/>It’s the first time Kain has been rimmed, but he is certain that Brin’s an expert.<br/>Even if Kain wasn’t that interested in sex while he lived in Gothr, it didn’t mean he didn’t know the theory of it.<br/>Not that he can think of that now, his whole world filled with slurping noises and that amazing tongue fucking him.<br/>If he could be rimmed for the rest of his life, he would be cool with that.<br/>The feeling is so intense and so good, that he almost misses his own orgasms.<br/>But, after shaking trough three of them, and a lot of begging and whining, Brin finally gives him what he ultimately needs.<br/>Face showed and ass up, Brin fucks his deep and hard.<br/>He falls asleep stuffed full of semen and knot, Brin holding him close and safe.</p>
<p>The next time Kain wakes up, he feels more like himself.<br/>Brin manages to make him eat something, and drink a lot of water, and they even clean up a little.<br/>All to soon, the heat comes back, driving them back to bed with intertwined limbs and filthy kisses.<br/>Kain loves to kiss Brin.<br/>He can’t get enough of it, their tongues dancing together, tasting, nibbling.<br/>Somehow, they end up with Kain on top, riding the other man with his head thrown back.<br/>He could really getting used to this, fucking and tasting and touching. <br/>After a couple of days like this, the constant need calms down a little, leaving Kain with a clear head more often.</p>
<p>With the periods of clarity, comes the thoughts of what this is.<br/>Not the heat, but the why and how Brin had set this up.<br/>The group wasn’t meant to be back so soon, where did he get a horse and what about this cabin?<br/>And why did the man come to him that first night those months ago, just to pretend to fuck him.<br/>Was Cyrus right, when he said the man wanted to help him?<br/>He really needed to find a way to talk to the alpha.<br/>Or, there was not a problem to talk to him, it was the answers that was the problem.<br/>As the world grew hazy again, and the cuddling wasn’t enough anymore, Kain decided to learn the hand language and make an effort to communicate with Brin.</p>
<p>Later, after being knotted and drifting off to a nap, Kain tells the alpha of his decision.<br/>Brin gives him a small smile, all the sudden looking a little shy, but nods his consent.<br/>They start with simple tings like body parts and what they could see around them, and when the heat ends and they prepare to go back to the camp, they can have simple conversations.       <br/>It’s not enough to let Kain get all his answers, but it’s a good start.<br/>He learns to ask the alpha yes or no questions, making it easier for the man.<br/>Brin often looks overwhelmed, like the possibility of making himself understood is a foreign concept.<br/>Witch it probably is, since nobody outside of his group of mercenaries tries to talk to him at all.<br/>That makes Kain feel bad.<br/>After all this time, he never thought about trying to talk to the man, trying to understand him at all.<br/>Like being mute made it impossible to communicate with the rest of the world.</p>
<p>It takes them a couple of days to catch up to the rest of the pilgrims, and most of that time they only talks about the here and now.<br/>With Kain only knowing the most basic signs, and Brin not always understanding what Kain is saying, it’s slow moving.   <br/>There was a lot of question Kain needed answers to, but first they had to catch up with the rest of them, and he had to learn the language better. <br/>It would still be a long time before they reached their goal and went their separate ways, they had time.<br/>Why the thought of them going their separate ways made his chest hurt, he refused to think about.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>I can't seem to stop myself from posting chapters earlier than I planed..<br/>hope you like it!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0014"><h2>14. Chapter 14</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I think that I can just say that I will update every 2-3 days, in stead of pretending to only do it twice a week..<br/>At least until part one is posted!</p>
<p>I have written several oneshots that will come before the next big part of the serie, and that part is also in the making.</p>
<p>I am having fun writing this, and I hope you have fun reading it!</p>
<p>kudos, comment and bookmarks are very welcomed, love some feedback</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>14.</p>
<p>They catch up with the rest of the pilgrims right before they set camp for the night, and Kain is relived.<br/>Spending all that time one on one with Brin had been great, and even if the heat was prefect and he could have stayed like that for a very long time, the time on the road afterwards was even better.<br/>But meeting the rest of them again, seeing that the group that had went for Vito are back and safe and not hurt, lets him lower his shoulder that last bit.<br/>As if learning to communicate with Brin, and trying to figure out the how’s and why’s of the man, Kain had been worrying about the attack at Vito.<br/>So, seeing them all feels good.<br/>After dinner they sits down with the mercenaries, which now have increased in numbers with some of the men that came for the fight deciding to travel with them some more, and Rhys tells them of what happened.</p>
<p>With the men coming to their camp in the week prior to their attack, rumors of the city was shared.<br/>Vito is not the capital of Vioria, but they thought of them self as the post important city, taking pried in their trading and lively nightlife.<br/>Their all omega brothel was one of a kind, and attrackted a certain kind of people.<br/>Rich people, which made the city elite rich too. <br/>The rest of Vioria did not see it that way, and was more than helpful in giving necessary information to their group.</p>
<p>The main group reached the city late afternoon, ready to attack and liberate Vito ones and for all.<br/>After a short meeting, where it was confirmed that the major was in on it all and the men that had attacked them was a small secret part of the city guards, small adjustments to the plan was made.<br/>They decided to both free the omegas and help them back home, to apprehend the major, the owner of the brothel and the chef of guards so they could be brought to justice.<br/>And, hopefully burn the brothel down and capture as many of that group of guards as possible.  <br/>It was difficult to know for sure who and how many that was involved in this scheme, but rumors going around in the city made them quite certain that the rest of the city could take over from there.</p>
<p>So, when the sun was setting, one group entered the city pretending to look for a fun night out.<br/>It’s nothing strange with groups of travelers seeking fun in a city like Vito, with cheap beer and that omega brothel to lure them in.<br/>So that group worked their way from pub to pub, drinking and shouting and laughing and making a show of themselves.<br/>They end up at the brothel, as planed, acting and looking wasted.<br/>A couple of them sacrifices themselves and follows an omega to their rooms, but most of them just flirt with the ones in the room up front or buy themselves another beer.<br/>Meanwhile, Rhys takes the rest of them in trough the secret door Cyrus had shown them, sneaking around in the shadows and finding their way to the building where the special guards slept.<br/>They never guarded the city it’s self, just the major when not out on a secret mission, so it was easy to catch them all.<br/>A small group broke of from the rest, tasked with getting the major.<br/>When everybody was in place, a secret signal was heard, and the fighting began.<br/>The group at the brothel kept on partying loud, making first Rosa and then the owner coming out to try to calm them down a little.<br/>None of them notice the shouting and shooting coming from the guards quarter, and it’s not before Larin pops his head in the door and whistle.<br/>Rosa and the owner are apprehended, the other customers and workers kicked out, and the omegas led out the secret door in the bathroom, and the rest of the route Kain and Cyrus had taken.<br/>Everything had gone as planed, a couple of the guards dies, and four mercuries gets wounded.<br/>In the office at the brothel a safe was found filled with money, so every omega got a fare share of them to start their life over again.<br/>Some of the omegas choose to stay in Vito, but most of them wanted to go back to where they came from.<br/>A few even decided to tag along with the pilgrims, wanting a whole new start.<br/>Coincidence, that was the ones that didn’t buy Rosa’s cooing and wooing.<br/>Maybe they would be though enough to survive the journey.      <br/>After splitting up in groups, every group of omegas had some guards with them, the rest had traveled back to the main camp.<br/>They had needed supplies for the new omegas, but nobody wanted to buy them in Vito, so the group made do until they made it to the next town.<br/>Which they had just left when Kain and Brin caught up on them.</p>
<p>Going back to their old routines is easy.<br/>Nobody makes a big deal of them being gone for more than a week, or that Brin had abandoned the group that went to Vito, or that they now had two horses instead of one.<br/>Most of the time, Brin’s horse just walks behind the wagon, with only Brin’s and his pack on his back.<br/>If someone has an injury or have another problem with walking the full day, they get a ride.<br/>But everybody is now used to walking and being the only one riding on a horse doesn’t sit right with Kain.<br/>He thinks that’s one reason to why nobody else ask for a ride either.</p>
<p>The last few days, a thin layer of snow covers the ground.<br/>It doesn’t snow as much as it did in the quarry, and it’s not as cold either, but every night Kain dreams of last winter.<br/>Dreams of blue toes, of dead bodies, and of Josh…<br/>Waking up in the middle of the night, with tears running down his face, takes it’s tole on him.<br/>Even with Brin there to hold him, to sooth him and listen to his broken ramblings of what he had endured, the lack of sleep can be seen in his face.<br/>He is freezing more than the temperature would indicate, pilling on all his clothes at ones.<br/>Another reason to walk and not get a ride with the horse…</p>
<p>Then one morning, while he looks over his herbs and plants in his bag, he sees a root of valerian.<br/>How could he have forgotten that?<br/>A tea made of finely cut pieces of that root before bed, would both calm him down and make it easier to sleep.<br/>Sometimes, Kain get so lost in his own mind that he forgets so much of what his mother had taught him.<br/>It goes easier after that.<br/>Kain still feel more tired that usually, and his fingers never warms up, but over all things goes well.<br/>He starts to feel a little nausea in the mornings, but that’s not unusual when drinking valerian tea.<br/>A little food takes care of that.</p>
<p>The days becomes shorter, the sunset forcing them to set camp earlier and earlier.<br/>Together with the cold, that means that the pilgrims spend more time sitting around the firepit, talking, drinking, and having fun.<br/>Larin, one of Rhys men, turned out to have a deep velvety voice and a love for using it to sing.<br/>Milo had traveled a lot and is a skilled storyteller.<br/>So bundled up in wool blankets, with a cup of hot beverage in their hands, all of them got to know each other better and better.<br/>Kain finally learned the name of everybody, making an effort to get to know them.<br/>But even with all the laughter around them, he and Brin always spent some of their evenings to improve their communication.<br/>Not only with Kain learning the finger language, but also learning each other’s primary language.<br/>Over the months they had been traveling together, Brin had learned mareze  quite well, since that’s the language most of the pilgrims talk,  so it takes some time before it occurres to Kain that Brin didn’t grew up with the same language as him.<br/>Kain feels embarrassed, when he finds out just how much of his language Brin had thought himself, when he himself hadn’t tried to learn a single word.<br/>No wonder Brin have had problems with communicating with Kain all the time!<br/>Kain gets help from a beta from Rhys gang, Darva, learning tareeze during their days, and practices it with Brin in the evenings.<br/>It’s slow going, Kain almost bursting with all the questions he wants answer to.<br/>Need answers to.<br/>Finally, with words from both languages, signs and nodding and shaking their heads, Kain gets a grip on what had happened back when he got his heat.    <br/>With the help from one of his friends, Brin bought the horse in a small village they passed through on their way to Vito, and turned back for Kain.<br/>Brin had also borrowed the cabin from the man he bought the horse from, paying him to make it ready for them.<br/>He told Kain he felt an intense need to turn back for him, that there was no way he could go with the rest of the group to Vito.<br/>Witch sounds a little strange, but Kain decides to take it up with the man later, when their communication gets even better.<br/>There is a lot they still need to talk about, the whole thing with Brin forcing himself on Kain, the two faces of the man, - hating Kain in the daytime and cuddling him during the nights.<br/>But something tells Kain that the gentle giant hadn’t meant to use him, and that Cyrus had been telling the truth…<br/>Not that it makes it okay, Brin could have done that in a lot of better ways, but there is no point in denying that it probably saved Kain a lot of pain.</p>
<p>They where getting closer for each week now, admitting the feelings they had both to them self and each other.      <br/>Because there was no way around it anymore, Kain had fallen for the man, and that hard.<br/>Even if Brin didn’t pretend to fuck him every evening, they certainly had real sex often enough.<br/>Or, made love was maybe the right word.<br/>Slow and quiet and filled with kisses, but as just as satisfying.</p>
<p>It takes almost three weeks before Kain asks Melody to have a talk.<br/>He tells her about the comments of suppressants and if she new what that was.<br/>After his experiences he thinks it would be best if he got himself that stuff in time before his next heat.<br/>Melody tries to keep a straight face but can’t stop a small giggle before she tells him that suppressant is a kind of medicine used by omegas that couldn’t, or didn’t want to, have heats.<br/>And that they would have to be taken all the time, not just before a heat.<br/>In addition to stop heats the suppressant reduced their sent, making it harder to smell if someone was an omega, and therefore making the omega safer.<br/>It will also prevent a pregnancy, but all this is not something Kain have to think about for about a year now.<br/>When Kain just looks at her, she kindly informs him that if he hadn’t taken anything to prevent it, he’s pregnant right now.<br/>Wow.<br/>That was not anything he had thought about.<br/>But he immediately knows it’s true.<br/>He’s pregnant.<br/>He’s going to have a baby; he’s going to be a father.<br/>He’s pregnant, and is going to have a baby, with Brin.<br/>And, he has to tell the man that.<br/>Wow.</p>
<p>The rest of the day Kain walks around in a daze, pregnant and baby and father and Brin running around in a loop in his head.<br/>How is he going to tell this to Brin?<br/>He doesn’t know the words to use, obviously, and he doesn’t know how the man will take it.<br/>And when it’s time comes to go to bed, he still hasn’t found a solution, so he doesn’t say anything at all.<br/>The last thing that comes to mind before he falls asleep, is that the gross drink they had to take in the quarry probably was an heat suppressant.<br/>It’s probably just subconscious, but the next day the nausea is worse, and the breakfast doesn’t help.<br/>Food doesn’t really sit well with him the whole day, tasting bland and sitting heavy in his stomach.<br/>And the day after that, he wakes up and runs behind some bush before he violently empties his stomach.<br/>He doesn’t know what effect the valerian would have on the baby, so he decides that he have to stop with that.<br/>And, if the nausea continues like this, he will have to find something safe to help with that too.<br/>Even if he knows he have to tell Brin about this, he doesn’t want the rest of the group to know.<br/>At least not now.<br/>Finally, his stomach calms down, so he can start his day.<br/>Brin asks him about what happened but calmed down when Kain promised to tell him that night.<br/>So, now he has a day to decide how to tell the man he was going to be a father.<br/>What if Brin got mad?<br/>What if Brin leaves him, not wanting anything to do with him anymore? <br/>When did the man get so important to him that that thought brings tears to his eyes?<br/>Blinking them away, he focuses on what he can use against his nausea that is safe for the baby.</p>
<p>Pregnancies isn’t anything he have experience with, the women in his village didn’t come to him for that sort of stuff.<br/>He decides that ginseng would be a safe option, and he knows he have a root or two in his bag.<br/>But, if things don’t slow down in the next month or so, he would have to get some more.<br/>Since it’s in the middle of the winter, he would have to buy some.<br/>Luckily roots like ginseng could be stored for a long time, and it can be used for a lot of different things, so he doesn’t think it would be difficult to get any.<br/>Except that he would need to go to a marked to get it.<br/>Well, it’s a problem for the future, maybe it doesn’t even become a problem.<br/>Maybe he doesn’t need it for long.<br/>He could hope, couldn’t he? </p>
<p>When the night comes, and they move into their shelter, he still doesn’t know how to tell Brin.<br/>Lost in thoughts, he put a hand on his stomach, and when he looks over to Brin again, he sees a big smile filling his face.<br/>What’s that about?<br/>The man looks down, pointing out the hand there, and Kain blushes when he sees what he is doing.<br/>Lowering his eyes, he can’t look Brin in the eyes, suddenly terrified of what he will do.<br/>A warm hand caresses his face, before sliding down to lay on his stomach.<br/>Kain looks up at that, into eyes filled with a question and maybe some hope?<br/>All he can do is nod, but apparently that is enough, as the alpha let out a sub and pulls him close.<br/>Slowly, Kain embraces the sobbing man, and if a tear or two runs down his own face, nobody is there to see.<br/>Later, after Brin spends what feels like hours kissing his body, he sucks his brains out of his dick making him whimper when he comes.</p>
<p>The ginseng tea helps, but since he has to brew it after he wakes up, he always starts his day on all four behind a bush.<br/>It doesn’t take long before Milo figures out what’s going on, but the cook just has the tea ready when Kain comes stumbling back to camp, not saying a word.<br/>And since the tea stops the nausea for the rest of the day, his appetite comes back.         <br/>He’s munching on some strips of dried meat the cook gave him that morning, holding hands with Brin with his free hand.<br/>The sun is warming his face, the birds is singing in the trees, and something Larin is saying to the three sisters makes them giggle.<br/>It’s a really good day.<br/>He feels good with himself, good with his life.</p>
<p>A desperate scream from somewhere in front of their group shatters that feeling.<br/>Some of the guards run towards it, weapon drawn and on high alert.<br/>The rest of their group stops, everybody staying quiet, wanting to hear whatever happens next.<br/>But it stays quiet.<br/>No more screams, no sounds of fighting.<br/>Even the birds have stopped singing, like they too were holding their breath.<br/>After some time, the guards come back, one of them with the body of a young girl in his arms.<br/>It’s easy to see that the girl’s not alive anymore, the scream they had heard must have been the last one she made.</p>
<p>The girl is more or less torn apart.<br/>Deep gashes run down her face and chest, her arms are more bones and muscles than skin.<br/>Her throat is cut open almost from ear to ear, her intestines welling out from a cut low on her stomach.<br/>Blood is still slowly running down her legs, one knee bent the wrong way, and on the other leg her ankle is so badly broken that bone sticks out of the skin.<br/>He can feel bile in the back of his mouth, barley making it behind the closest tree before vomiting.<br/>At first glance, it could look like she was attacked by an animal, but the clear cuts could only be made by a knife.<br/>She was murdered, and the person that did it is close by.<br/>Kain feels the hairs on the back of his neck stand up, as he slowly looks around.<br/>A strong arm pulls him close, and he starts to panic before his nose is filled with the familiar sent of cedar.<br/>Leaning back against his boyfriend? Partner? Brin, he calmed his beating heart.<br/>The whole group kept close after that, nobody straying of the road alone.</p>
<p>After packing the girl in an old tarp, and placing her body on Brin’s horse, they started to walk towards the closest village.<br/>It’s dark before they get there, but nobody wants to set camp before they reach population.<br/>Ones there, they are met with angry and scared people armed with pitchforks and torches.<br/>The pitchforks soon disappear, a woman breaking down when she sees the roll on Brin’s horse.<br/>They really need to give that horse a name, Kain thinks absentmindedly.<br/>After some talking back and forte, it’s clear what made everybody so angry.<br/>When the young girl didn’t come back after a quick trip to the outhouse that afternoon, they all knew she was taken.<br/>They even suspected who had taken her, two men called The Snatchers.<br/>For the last year and a half, the duo has terrorized the area this village belongs to.<br/>Snatching people when and where they least expected it, and the next time they are seen they’re dead.<br/>Mutilated, sometimes so bad that it’s difficult to recognize them. <br/>Young girls or old men, weak or strong, if they take you, you will end up torn apart, like the girl they found today.<br/>She’s the third victim from this village, and they have had enough.<br/>The lawmen from a town a couple of days travel away have been hunting the men, it’s even put out a bounty on them, but they always manage to sneak away.</p>
<p>Nobody sleeps well that night, wailing and crying sounding from the village, not letting them forget about what had happened.<br/>Armed guards are patrolling both the campsite and the village, making sure everyone is safe, even if The Snatchers never comes back two days in a row, and never grabs anyone during the nights.       <br/>The next day, three young men comes asking for Rhys.<br/>One of them is the young girls older brother, and all three of them have been in the military for a short period of time.<br/>Now, they want to join in on hunting the murderers, ready to beg Rhys to let them come along. <br/>But they don’t need to beg, Rhys welcoming them readily.<br/>After the funeral, they pack up and leave, with a new hunt to implement.<br/>Kain had hoped the journey would be eventful when he left Gothr, but not like this.<br/>It feels like the group of pilgrims is turning out to be a group of mercenaries, trying to rid the world of all evil.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0015"><h2>15. Chapter 15</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>15.</p>
<p>They arrive at the little town of Sana in the early afternoon two days later, where they are met by a smiling man that introduces himself as the mayor.<br/>When he hears why they are there, the smile disappears, and he takes Rhys and a couple of others the to the lawmen.<br/>Some of the others, Kain included, walks over to the small marked they see.<br/>An older man sells rolls of silk, the fabric Kain fall in love with it Vito, and he touches some of them dreamily.<br/>But even if he could sew cloths of it himself, it wasn’t exactly something suitable for traveling like they do.<br/>He doesn’t see Brin looking at him, or that he signals with the old man.<br/>Or, noticed that he disappears after a quiet conversation with Liza.<br/>After all their work in learning signs and languages, the alpha has started to communicate more with even unknown people.</p>
<p>They don’t stay long in the town, there are no suitable space to set up camp near it, so they walk on after just a couple of hours.<br/>Finding a place that would not just fit them all, near water, and easy to protect takes them some time, but in the end, they find a near perfect place.<br/>It’s first when they sit around the firepit that night, that Kain finds out what the lawmen had said.<br/>The snatchers were driving this area crazy with they hideous behavior, and the bounty on them is so high that even if the mercenaries hadn’t already decided to catch them, it would be stupid not to.<br/>Not only have they evaded the law for more than a year and a half, they are also so dangerous and crazy that only the lawmen in their hometown would accept them.<br/>Rhys and his gang buy some thick rope and even iron shackles, to make sure the duo doesn’t escape after they catch them.<br/>Because they are going to catch them, failure is not an option.<br/>Some of the original pilgrims is pointing out all the delays this journey has suffered, and wonders if they will have enough resources to reach they final goal.<br/>At the beginning, when the journey was planned, a timetable for when they would arrive and the approximately cost was set, letting the pilgrims know if they could afford it.<br/>Now, with all the delays and the extra people staying with them, the budget was blown.<br/>But after talking about it for a while and being promised that the bounties from both the snatchers and future fugitives would be used for food and other things needed among the group, most of them calmed down.</p>
<p>Another thing Rhys tells them about, is the strange town the two men apparently came from.<br/>They are told that the town of Wilder are built up around an old sanatorium, famous for curing people that suffered from sickness to their mind.<br/>If someone suddenly changed their personality, got violent or started talking to trees or stopped talking at all, this sanatorium was the place to send them.<br/>There were whispers about not a lot of those people ever getting back home, and that the town are as crazy as the people that went there for help.<br/>It was definitely different, the lawmen had said, even if you didn’t believe the rumors. <br/>They were told to be careful, not believing everything they see, so they won’t get fooled.<br/>Which make a lot of the men around the firepit rumble with laughter.<br/>Strong and experienced as they are, there is no way they wouldn’t catch any lies.      </p>
<p>They don’t move the camp the next day.<br/>Most of the day is used to figure out how to find the murderers and who would hunt them and who would stay back protecting the camp.<br/>Milo spent the day taking stock of what they had of food and other essentials, making a list over what they would have to by more of.<br/>The rest of the pilgrims also checked their private stuff, giving Milo their own lists of what they needed.<br/>All of that would be bought after the bounty was collected.<br/>Kain use the day to clean both himself, and some of his clothes and blankets.<br/>The sun is warm and bright, making it possible to get the stuff dry before sunset, so he’s not the only one.</p>
<p>When the group of hunters left the next day, to look for The Snatchers, Brin is among them.<br/>Kain doesn’t like it, but Brin is the biggest and probably strongest man they have, so leaving him back in the camp don’t make any sense.<br/>The sun is still shining down on them, with not a cloud in sight, so Kain takes more of his stuff down to the river.<br/>He’s always hungry these days, and since they now stay put, he badgers the cook for snacks all day long.<br/>Milo shakes his head and grumbles when Kain comes for the fourth time but still finds some dried apples for him.<br/>Happy munching away, Kain manages to forget that he’s going to sleep alone this night.<br/>And probably several more, too.<br/>When they where sitting around the fire that night, it’s glaringly obvious that a group is missing.<br/>Rhys and his friends are always kind of loud, laughing and making fun of each other, or bickering and even roughhousing.<br/>The quiet conversations around him this night is kind of nice, but it makes him miss Brin even more.<br/>Which is hilarious, since the man is mute!<br/>He doesn’t think he will get a minute of sleep that night, but as soon as he closes his eyes, he falls asleep.</p>
<p>After emptying his stomach, and then filling it up again, Kain spends some time just laying around in the sun.<br/>He really wants to go for a walk in the wood, but he wants to be left alone at the same time and walking in the wood alone is not wise.<br/>Being snatched and mutilated is not something he want to experience!   <br/>So, sunbathing in the middle of the camp, pretending to be asleep, it is.       <br/>He worries about Brin and the rest too much to really fall asleep, but at least his body gets some extra rest.<br/>Praying that everything will be okay, that everybody comes back without injuries but with The Snatchers. </p>
<p>It turns out his praying is heard when the group comes back six days later.<br/>The first thing they notice, is loud cackling and swearing from somewhere in the forest.<br/>After a while, Rhys comes walking in front of the rest, looking exhausted and angry.<br/>Not that the rest of the gang looks any better, clothes wrinkled and blue bags under their eyes.<br/>In the middle of them all, two men is pulled along protesting every step.<br/>Their eyes are wild, and pupils blown, their hair dirty and standing up in strange ways, and cloths worn and covered in stains Kain would like to never have seen.<br/>After sitting the two men down under a tree, and binding not only their feet and hands together, but also binding the men to the tree itself, Rhys ask Milo to make them some food.<br/>Brin comes over to him, bringing him in for a hug and sniffing his neck.<br/>Humming, the alpha leans heavy on Kain, almost making them fall over.<br/>Shaking his head Kain pulls out from the hug and sits down, Brin easily following him down before curling in on himself with his head in Kain’s lap.<br/>The rest of the men more or less crumbles down around them, complaining of sore feet and ears.<br/>Apparently, the crazy duo never shut up.<br/>Kain can understand why they complain, the noise already giving him a headache.</p>
<p>That night, despite how tired Brin is when he came back, they kiss and kiss for what feels like hours.<br/>Not heated or desperate, just sweet, and calm, and lovingly.<br/>They fall asleep in each others’ arms, with one of Brin’s hand splayed over the tiny bump low on Kain’s stomach.<br/>It’s crazy how much food Kain can eat each day now, and he will soon be showing so much that it will be noticeable.<br/>With it being so early in the pregnancy, he fears he will end up the size of a whale before the pup is born! <br/>That will not bode well for the last part of this journey, it’s still a few months before the reach their goal, with all the bounty hunting they do.</p>
<p>The crazy duo, as everybody calls them now, did indeed not stay quiet.<br/>If they don’t harass whoever gets too close, the argues with each other.<br/>And if they don’t argue, they laugh.<br/>Loud, and seemly without reason.<br/>As a result, everybody hurries trough their mornings, walks faster and longer during the days, and generally does all they can to reach their destination.   <br/>Tired and grumpy, the pilgrims quarrel with each other too, making everybody miserable.<br/>Finally, after five heinous days, they setts camp on a field not far from the town itself.<br/>And the next day, a group of then left the camp, to walk the rest of the way.<br/>Some of them are following their prisoners, and some of them just wants to see what all the fuss about this town is.<br/>And, maybe, if they are luckily, there will be a marked or something there.<br/>Even if the nature they walked through is beautiful and at times breathtaking, new faces and socialization outside of their group is tempting.<br/>Some needs some small stuff, like Kain that need ginger, and if they don’t, they can probably find something anyway.</p>
<p>The crazy duo has gradually quieted down the last days, probably realizing where they are going.<br/>Strangely, they don’t try to escape or beg to be set free.<br/>Instead, they walk enthusiastically with a bright smile on their faces.<br/>Weird.<br/>But they where told the whole town was strange, so maybe it made some kind of sense.<br/>They enter a forest, the road is narrow but well used, tall trees standing close.<br/>Some of the trunks are crocket, it looks like they lean over the path.<br/>The forest is so dense, that almost no sun shines through, but then a couple of trees are missing, like they have pulled up their roots and left, leaving small pockets where the sun lights up their way.<br/>Leaves from last fall is still laying orange and brown on the ground, and if not for the new leaves shining vibrant green in the trees and waving in the breeze, Kain would have thought it was close to winter. <br/>But it’s not.<br/>Birds is singing, enjoying the spring finally being here.   <br/>Kain smiles, also enjoying the end of the wintertime.<br/>Suddenly, the road makes a hard turn left, and they break the tree line.<br/>As soon as they leave the shadows, oranges and reds and purples and yellows fills their vision, dancing in the sudden breeze.<br/>Abruptly stopping, Kain blinks a couple of times, not comprehending what he sees.<br/>The breeze slows down, and the colors spreads out into butterflies.<br/>What have to be thousands of butterflies, takes of from the equal color fields of flowers.<br/>Wildflowers all around, at this time of year?<br/>Strange.<br/>Nervous laughter from behind him, makes him lift his eyes from the flowers and looks ahead.<br/>And there, in front of them, lies the town called Wilder.<br/>The place looks as strange as the name is.<br/>From where they all stop, too shocked to just move on, the place looks like a child has dropped their crayons down the hill behind it and let them just lay where they landed.<br/>There are no walls surrounding the town, just fields upon fields of spring flowers.<br/>A building tall enough to be called a tower stands on the left side.<br/>It’s at least four stories high, made of bricks painted a bright red color.<br/>Next to it, a green house looks like it leans on the red one, and next to that again a bright yellow two-story high building with a huge window in the roof really lighten up the day.<br/>And the rest of the town continues like that.<br/>Even the road leading up to the city is strange, winding first left then right and the left again, making it look like a drunkard had made it on his way home one night.<br/>Slowly, the group starts walking again.<br/>The warnings they had gotten made more sense now, and Kain wonders about the people living here.</p>
<p>It turns out that the people match the buildings.<br/>Or maybe it’s the other way around.<br/>Either way, they are met with big smiles and open arms the minute they enter the huge square that makes up the center of this crazy place.<br/>A big flowerbed splits the square in the middle, is filled with flowers of all colors.<br/>On one side there is a small marked, and what appears to be a dozen small tables with lots of brightly colored chairs surrounding them on the other.<br/>Most of the chairs is occupied, none of the people sitting quiet. <br/>Laughing and singing fills the place up, all that noise together with all those colors giving Kain a headache.<br/>Splitting up, some of them goes directly towards the small stalls at the marked, while Kain follows Brin and the rest to turn in their catch.<br/>He doesn’t feel safe leaving Brin’s side.<br/>They make their way over the square, finding the law office in a narrow and tall blue house.<br/>The lawman is also smiling big, even giving their wayward criminals a hug each.<br/>After swapping the crazy duo with their bounty, they head over to the small marked themselves, looking for the things they needed.<br/>Melody and her sisters are already there, looking at fabrics and jewelry and giggling with the locals.<br/>Kain finds the herbs he needs for his tea and even some funny braces he would need in a few months.<br/>Or weeks, if he continued to gain weight as he has done lately. <br/>Next to the stall where they sell some soaps and perfumes and the like, a woman offers them some green looking cookies.<br/>Something smells off with them, but before Kain can say anything everyone is munching on it.<br/>His stomach is turning from the smells coming from the stall beside it, so eating it is not in the book for Kain.<br/>But he hides it in one of his pockets, he will surely get hungry again soon!<br/>As they walk down the row of stalls, more and more giggling can be heard from his friends.<br/>Something is wrong.<br/>When Brin starts shaking with silent laughter looking at Rhys trying on a woman’s scarf, alarm bells rings in Kain’s head.<br/>Dragging Brin to the side, he asked the man how he feel, and gets two thumps up and a wide smile back.<br/>Someone or something have drugged his friends, and he will bet it’s the cookies.<br/>He tries to watch out for all of them, making sure they get what they came here for, remembers to pay or making sure they isn’t ripped of, steering them away from eating more cookies and herding them out of the town when they are done.<br/>When the group finally come back to the camp, Kain is ready to die.<br/>After telling Milo and the rest of the mercenaries what had happened, he curls up under his blanket.<br/>It’s still in the middle of the day, but he deserves a nap after this!<br/>The lively bunch luckily went out of steam around dinnertime, and calm settled around him.<br/>Brin is fast asleep, lying on his back snoring when Kain comes to bed that night.<br/>The man doesn’t even budge when Kain curls up with his head on Brin’s shoulder.</p>
<p>Early next morning, groans could be heard throughout the campsite.<br/>The hangover is not something Kain miss, that was for sure!<br/>Everything takes longer than it normally would, with the partygoers moving slowly, but finally they are ready to go.<br/>And nobody notice that Melody comes running from somewhere right as they start to walk.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0016"><h2>16. Chapter 16</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>16.</p>
<p>They left the mountains behind three day ago, the ground they travel through now flat.<br/>Kain can see mountains in the distance far far away, mounds of stones, some bare and some covered in gras, the only thing breaking up the flat surface.<br/>Small ponds with all kinds of reed surrounding them, moss and heather and different kinds of grass each giving their own colors to the landscape.<br/>Red ang gray and yellow and an unknow number of green, a colorful painting made by mother nature herself.<br/>It takes his breath away; he feels small and humble.<br/>Walking and breathing in the fresh air makes his blood sing, and all he can do is smile.</p>
<p>With all the things that have been happening lately, Kain haven’t been able to learn as much hand signs and tamareeze as he wanted.<br/>But they are slowly getting better, the day to day talk flows easily now.<br/>There are still a lot of heavy stuff they have to talk about, mainly the way Brin choose to protect Kain.<br/>So, when Rhys decides to take one extra day in camp during a heavy rainstorm, they huddle together in their small shelter to talk it out.</p>
<p>Brin too, remember Kain from the quarry.<br/>Their orders had been to blow up everything and everyone, to not leave any prove of what they had done.<br/>Rescuing just their own people and leaving the rest to their private hell when the knew about it, would be frown upon if it got out.<br/>Things was getting harder and harder for the common people, drought and hunger making life hard, and people with power neglecting their people didn’t make anything better.<br/>Their employee was rich and powerful, so he did whatever he wanted.<br/>Like ordering what basically was an execution of dozens of innocent people…  <br/>And it wouldn’t have looked well that a group of mercenaries from Taram attacked a place that gave the queen of Mara a lot of money…<br/>But when Brin had seen Kain, something inside him had screamed to let him go, so he did.<br/>Later, when all the explosives were in place and they where leaving the area, Brin had seen Kain with the boss.<br/>Again, something inside him had screamed at him to save Kain from that man, and he had killed the assailant without thought.<br/>At the same time, the explosives had blown up, leaving Brin bleeding on the ground.<br/>Rhys had shouted at him, and then laughed, when Brin had told him about Kain.</p>
<p>The group had decided to quit renting themselves out to the highest bidder after that, blowing up all those people not sitting well with them.<br/>So, when they were offered the job as guards and guides for a group wanting to start over on the other side of the continent, they jumped on it.<br/>As soon as Brin saw Kain again, he recognized him.<br/>Rhys caught on and let Kain join the group without the standard payment.<br/>Brin continued to feel drawn to Kain, not understanding why, and not liking it.<br/>Especially since Rhys used every opportunity to tease him about it.<br/>But as the days went on, and they all could smell Kain was an omega, it became harder to stay away.<br/>With being both huge and mute, he new he wasn’t a catch, and certainly didn’t deserve an omega.</p>
<p>It was when their small group started to talk about who should take the omega for his heat, as if what Kain wanted didn’t matter, as if he was just a plaything, Brin broke down.<br/>He knew he couldn’t just take Kain, but he also knew that if he didn’t someone else would, so he panicked and did what he did.<br/>And even if he knew it was to protect Kain, to not make the omega an object to be used, he felt himself grow hard at the first whiff of his sent.<br/>Dizzy from lust, he only managed to get his own hand around himself, before he lost it.<br/>And when he woke up the next morning, shame made him feel sick and he snuck away.    <br/>He couldn’t stop himself from going to Kain each night and hating himself about it the next morning.<br/>Soon the hate he felt for himself grew so big that he started to hate Kain too, for making it so hard to stay away.</p>
<p>When they had woken up to find the omegas gone, Brin panicked, thinking he had lost Kain.<br/>So, when he got him back, he needed Kain closer, he needed more skin, he needed that Kain smelled more like him.<br/>Before he knew it, his own hand was swapped out with fucking Kain’s thighs, and there was no way back.<br/>And then, when he found out Kain was hard that one night, his heart swelled with love and affection.<br/>The next day, Brin hit a new low, shame and hatred filling him again.<br/>What did he think, just because Kain got hard it didn’t mean what he continued to do being okay!<br/>So, he kept away as much as possible, refusing to go back to Kain and breaking his own heart at the same time.<br/>But after Cyrus died, he couldn’t anymore.<br/>He couldn’t stay away, he couldn’t survive the nights without Kain, he needed Kain close to make it trough the days.<br/>And then he smelled the heat coming back… </p>
<p>Their talk takes most of the day.<br/>Sometimes, the frustration of not managing to explain what he wants gets to Brin, and they need to take a break.<br/>Sometimes, when Kain tries to guess what Brin means, what he comes up with is so far from the truth that Brin just gapes at him, making Kain giggle.<br/>Making Brin try to look angry, which make Kain laugh, and then Brin laugh, and it takes forever before they calm down enough to continue.<br/>And sometimes, when Brin talks himself down, Kain just have to kiss it better.<br/>One kiss lead to another, and another, and in between Kain coming back from Vito and Cyrus dying, sweet lovemaking makes them forget everything for a while.</p>
<p>When Milo shouts that dinner is served in his meat -smoking tent, it’s finally all out there.<br/>And there were still a lot of better ways that Brin could have approached Kain that evening, he was still forcing himself on Kain, but…<br/>It’s all in the past now, their mutual feelings and baby on the way what’s important now.<br/>Obviously, Milo’s cooking tent doesn’t seat everybody, so Kain runs out to get them some food, coming back drenched to the bone.<br/>It’s been a long time since Kain have experienced rain like this, the water making new tracks for themselves, tiny streams almost surrounding their campsite.<br/>Something doesn’t sit right with for Kain, it’s making him nervous.<br/>Hopefully, the rain will stop soon, and they could be on their way.</p>
<p>But later that evening, when Brin goes out to check on the horses, he finds that they are nearly trapped.<br/>Shouting leads to frantic packing and evacuating of the campsite.<br/>First, the horses and the wagon are moved over to safety, cooking supplies, weapons, surviving gear and personal packs thrown over the rapidly growing stream.   <br/>They barely make it; the three sisters lose their tent and the last man leaving have to be dragged out of the water by a rope he clings to.<br/>After taking a few steadying breaths, and securing all the stuff laying around, they try to find a safe way out of there.<br/>The road is left relatively whole, but they don’t know for how long.<br/>Hurrying along, they send scouts to check on the road further along, and even check behind them and on each side, to have as much control as possible.<br/>At one point, water have swept away a part of the road, leaving everybody holding their breath while Darva and Brin carefully maneuvers the horses and wagon past it.<br/>Luckily, they make it.<br/>But just an hour later, they stand looking at where the road should have been.<br/>It’s not there anymore.<br/>Water running by in high speed, dragging with them everything in their way.<br/>Kain can’t even see the road on the other side of this new river…<br/>So, when the scout comes running from behind, telling them that the water is eating away on the road behind them too, panic spreads.<br/>Standing in the middle of the road Kain had slowly turned around in a circle, and it felt like he can see for miles in every direction.<br/>It makes him feel tiny, reminding him of how big the world really is.<br/>Huge forests filled with old trees and plants of all colors and shapes, birds singing and animals peeking out from all the green, he can spend weeks in those without getting bored.<br/>Mountains high, dark or grey, looming over them or stretching up to the sky, fills him with aw.<br/>But nothing is more powerful than waste open fields like this.   <br/>Or more frightening, in this case. <br/>Grass and reed drowned in a massive amount of water, they need to get higher, and they need to do it now!<br/>Finally, a small hope is seen, in a steep hill littered with rocks.<br/>Steering the horses of the road doesn’t get them far, the wagon to heavy for the soft ground.<br/>So, everybody grabs as much as they can carry, and the wagon is left behind.<br/>Everybody moves as fast as they can with their heavy burden, fear making then faster than they normally are.<br/>The fastest and strongest of them manages two trips to the wagon, grabbing Melody on their second trip up the hill.<br/>She has been strangely quiet through it all, no panic or tears, just calmly moving along.<br/>But in the chaos of getting cargo and horses and humans to safety, it’s just a blip in Kain’s mind.</p>
<p>Everybody it drenched and bone tired, and now that the immediate danger is over, they crash.<br/>Shaking and crying or staring into nothing, most of them sits down right where they stand.<br/>Milo takes charge, commandeering men to raise a shelter between to huge rocks, sending a few looking for whatever wood they can find lying around, and then makes a heathy stew for everybody to warm themselves with.<br/>Kain brings his herbs and walk around checking on everyone, but beside a sprained ankle and some small cuts and bruises, everybody is whole and sound.<br/>The rain doesn’t stop, and the water raises and raises, flooding by and eating everything in it’s way.<br/>It’s extremely powerful, this amount of water.<br/>Kain feels a shiver run down his back.<br/>What if nobody had gone out for a last check on the horses?<br/>Or if the hill had been further away?<br/>Lightning can be seen far away, so far that the booming of thunder drowns in the sound of the water rushing by.<br/>He finds himself watching the light, dancing there in the horizon, zig zagging through the dark.<br/>It’s in the middle of the night now, and people are huddling together under the tarps, seeking warmth and safety in being together.<br/>Still, Kain keep watching.<br/>Brin brings a tarp they can huddle under, where they watch the sky together.<br/>Mother nature can be cruel and harsh. </p>
<p>It’s not easy to say when the morning comes, the dark sky still heavy with water.<br/>Rain is still falling, the water still rising, but for now they are safe here on their little island.<br/>The thunder and lightning are closer now, booming heard from time to time.<br/>Kain wonders how long it will take from the rain stops, until all the flood goes down so they can continue their journey.<br/>He opens his eyes to ask if Brin had any experience with flood, when screaming and shouting is heard from behind them.<br/>They jump up and turns around, just in time to see Melody falling into the water.<br/>Her sisters are screaming, and Larin throws himself after her.<br/>They take of, knowing every second counts, the few meters feeling like a mile.<br/>Larin comes to the surface holding a dazzled Melody in his arms, trying to swim to the shore.<br/>But the water if powerful, dragging them down and further away, out of reach of all arms stretching for them.<br/>Someone, Kain doesn’t catch who, throws a rope with a loop at them, managing to get it around Melody.<br/>Larin manages to get the rope under her arms, and they start to pull them in.<br/>Suddenly, they go under again, making everybody pulling faster and harder, but when Melody pops up, she’s alone…<br/>After handing her over to her sisters, they all desperately search for the alpha, but he doesn’t surface again.<br/>Time stops.<br/>For a long time, they just stand there, not wanting to give up.<br/>But everybody knows it’s too late, that Larin will never sing for them again.<br/>Shaking out of his shock, Kain goes to check on Melody.<br/>When he finds her calmly sitting with her sister around the fire, the only evidence of her ordeal being her newly soaked clothes, he knows something’s very wrong.<br/>After checking her for any injuries like broken bones, wounds or pain anywhere, he checks how heart is beating and looks at her eyes.<br/>Lead fills his stomach, and after asking her sisters to give them some privacy, he sits down beside her and takes her hand.<br/>“how long have you been using? Since Wilder?”<br/>Melody just looks at him, not giving any answer.<br/>He can’t believe it.<br/>All this time, his friend has being using drugs.<br/>Why? How? <br/>Anger fills him, but he forces it down, anger will not do Melody any good now.<br/>“why?<br/>Still, there’s no answer, Melody just turns away.<br/>He can’t take it anymore.<br/>A man is dead, and with how high Melody is now, he doubts she have even noticed.<br/>Quickly he get’s up and leave, he needs a break, he needs to get away for a while.<br/>Not that he can go far, their little island not really giving him the space he needs.<br/>When asked, he answers her sisters that she wasn’t hurt, but that’s all he manages.<br/>He moves as far away from the others that he can, tears prickling in his eyes.<br/>Familiar arms engulf him, and he breaks down.<br/>“she’s using drugs...”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0017"><h2>17. Chapter 17</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>17.</p>
<p>He stays there crying in Brin’s arms for several minutes.<br/>Crying in anger, in despair, and in fear for his friend.<br/>But there is a lot to do now, so with a deep breath he pulls himself together.<br/>Walking over to where most of them have been huddling together, trying to figure out what happened, and to come to grips with the death of Larin.<br/>Melody is still sitting there, no emotions on her face, locked in her own world.<br/>How could he not have seen this before?<br/>He asks to talk with Rhys first, telling him what he has found out.<br/>The alpha looks stricken but agree with Kain’s plan of sobering her up first before anything else is done.<br/>Rhys calls Melody over to them, and gets the same lack of answers as Kain had got when he had tried.<br/>Liza is then given a short version of what was going on and asked to join Kain in search for the drugs.<br/>The omega looks shaken at first, but visibly sets her shoulder and nods.<br/>After looking trough not only Melody’s bags, but also those who belongs to her two her sisters, they find three small bags of something that looks like grass but definitely doesn’t smell like it, and a jar filled with small blue pills.<br/>The two other sisters, that had looked horrified and embarrassed when Rhys told them why their bags was being check, huddles Melody between them.<br/>When Melody understand what’s going on, she reacts for the first time this day.<br/>She howls and tries to attack them, and it takes two of the bigger men to hold her back.<br/>Finally, when she sees Kain taking the drugs with him, she calms down.<br/>Or, collapses are more correct.<br/>As the day goes one, a small space is sheltered from the rest of their makeshift tent, and Melody placed on a sleeping pad surrounded by blankets to make a makeshift nest.</p>
<p>For the next two days, Kain doesn’t think about the fact that they are stranded on a hill waiting for the water to disappear.<br/>Taking care of Melody is draining both physically and mentally, at one point they have to bind her to prevent her from harming herself or those around her.<br/>Throughout that first day, Melody screams and pleads and threaten, and tries to reason with them that she really needs her pills. <br/>But whatever she says, whatever excuse she uses, Kain only shakes his head.<br/>Melody turns angry with him the second day, spitting venom and hiding under her blankets.<br/>That evening, her body starts to show her addiction, making her sweat and vomit and shiver.<br/>When her withdrawal reaches it’s peak, she shivers so violently that Kain fears for her teeth.  <br/>She grows quiet after that, which feels even worse.<br/>Kain just sits there, beside her, watching her looking blankly at the tarp over her.</p>
<p>But after these first few days things calms down, and Kain leaves his friend’s bedside for the first time.<br/>He had spent just a few hours a night away from her, Brin carrying him away and holding him tight both to comfort him and to prevent him from going back to Melody.<br/>But now that the worst is over, he lets Melody’s sisters take his place so he can rest some. <br/>He crashes as soon as he falls down in their makeshift bed, sleeping for a whole day and night.<br/>It’s first when he wakes up again, and sees how much bigger their island has grown, that he is reminded of the flood.<br/>People begins to get restless; food is getting sparse and they ran out of clean water yesterday.<br/>The floodwater is brown and smells off, like rotting plants.<br/>But it’s all they have, and after boiling it and sift it trough a thick cloth, it’s at least safe to drink.</p>
<p>It takes another five days before they see dry land all the way to where the road one’s were.<br/>A group of hunters sets of in the hopes of getting some meat for the pilgrims but comes back with only a couple of birds.<br/>It’s not a lot of meat on them, barley anything at all, but at least the broth made of their bones tastes good.<br/>Kain hopes the flood didn’t reach the villages closest to them, because they need a lot of supplies now.<br/>Hey and grain to the horses, tarps and blankets, pots and pans, some of them lost all their clothes, packs needs to be replaced, and all kinds of food they could get.<br/>Wild animals are long gone, eatable plants and herbs drowned under slippery mud.<br/>So, hunting and harvesting on their way is out for the time being.<br/>Hopefully it wouldn’t be too long before they left the area that was flooded and would be able to sustain themselves like they had up until now.<br/>But before that, they had to buy whatever they needed.  <br/>Like a new wagon.<br/>The old one is wedged between two crocket trees, or most of it are.<br/>The handiest of the men checks it over, to see if something is savable. <br/>It’s not possible to mend it, but they make a couple of sledges using pieces of wood and some rope.<br/>Since the slick mud still covers everything on the ground, even with the sledges full of equipment, the horses manage to drag them along.   <br/>That way everyone just has to carry their own stuff, which is heavy enough when walking in the mud themselves.<br/>It is slow going those first days.<br/>With the road washed away, even knowing which direction they should go is harder.<br/>The terrain is so different, with rocks of all sizes strewn around and small streams making their new paths.</p>
<p>Melody is better, but her sisters still watches her closely, incase she loses her footing or balance.<br/>Kain is feeling the hard days in his hips, the pregnancy making itself known.<br/>His bump is getting bigger, and especially the women in their group have been giving him small knowing smiles.<br/>Soon he has to tell everybody, Brin is getting more and more protective and possessive, carefully watching so nobody comes too close.<br/>Not to talk about his clothes getting to tight.<br/>The funny suspenders were a must to wear, his pants to tight. </p>
<p>But before they manage to tell everybody, the reach the nearest village.<br/>Somewhere in between the last settlement they saw and this, they have crossed the border into another kingdom.<br/>Crossing borders are not a problem, but with a new kingdom comes a new language.<br/>Luckily for Kain, the language spoken in Saria, sarian, was similar to viorin, the language they spoke in Vioria.<br/>So even if he didn’t understand everything as vel as he did viorin, he got the gist of it.<br/>The flood has destroyed a small part of the village, luckily it looks like their crops and storages are left whole.<br/>It looks they have already started to rebuild, in a new place on the outskirt of the village.<br/>Even with all the work that obviously needs to be done here, the villagers meet their group as soon as they are spotted.<br/>They probably look like a group of hobos, dirty and tired, but that doesn’t stop the men and women welcoming them.<br/>It becomes clear that this isn’t the first time a dirty group had tumbled upon their village after a flood.<br/>So, after making sure nobody is hurt, they are directed to a field where they can set up camp.<br/>Milo gets everything needed to make a meal worthy of royalty, soap and towels are handed out to everybody and directions to their regular bathing spot given.<br/>The village women then take dirty clothes and blankets away to clean them, since everything is covered in mud.<br/>And in no time, freshly cleaned and in borrowed clothes, the group sits around the firepit eating their fill for the first time in what fells like a long time.</p>
<p>Some of the locals are there with them, sharing drinks and stories, both good and bad.<br/>After Rhys tells them about their experience of the flood, leaving out everything with Melody, the major of Rino tells them what had happened here.<br/>As they had seen when they approached, only a small part of the village was directly affected of it.<br/>Unfortunately, the destroyed area contained the school, a small orphanage, a church and houses used by the poor people.<br/>The village isn’t really a big one, but it’s known for taking in everybody that needs help.<br/>Homeless children and families evicted from their homes in the city a couple of days travel away, found their way here to Rino.<br/>But now, they were ones again without a roof over their heads.<br/>They have started building housing again, but it’s slow going, since they have to make the bricks and other materials before they could start building.<br/>Soon the stories told gets lighter, and laughter can be heard around the camp.</p>
<p>Later, curled up in Brin’s arms, Kain feels the baby kick for the first time.<br/>He has been feeling something fluttering in his stomach for a while, but with everything that have happened lately, he hasn’t had time to really feel and think about it.<br/>Now, he grabs Brin’s hand and places it where the baby kicks, making them both laugh with tears in their eyes.<br/>Both of them smiles as they fall asleep.<br/>Kain dreams of two small children running around in a meadow, laughing and chasing each other.<br/>He dreams of strong arms holding him close, of a small cottage close by, a life he had never even dreamed of having.<br/>Or knowing he wanted.<br/>But he does.</p>
<p>The next day, they take advantage of the warm weather and takes all the tarps down to the river to clean them.<br/>It’s early spring here now, but heavy rain is normal at this time of year around here.<br/>After hanging them up to dry, most of the men in their group volunteer at the building site.<br/>Not only wanting to pay back for all the help they got when they came here, but also wanting to help out getting these houses ready as soon as possible.<br/>Living in tents while traveling is one ting but relying on only tents when the next big rainstorm comes is a totally different thing.</p>
<p>The spends almost a week in Rino, helping at the building and preparing for their departure.<br/>After a couple of days spent cleaning, Kain gets bored.<br/>He can’t join the workers at the building site, especially after telling the rest of their group that he was pregnant, and there isn’t any herbs or plants around to harvest after the flood.<br/>So, he follows the women going to the village to buy some more supplies and ends up wandering around the marked place by himself.<br/>Wondering how all these small places could have these markets, everywhere they have been, small stalls filled with goods of all kind.<br/>He sees a stall filled with books and walks over.<br/>The woman working there gives him one look, searching through a wooden box filled with books, before grabbing one and gives it to him.<br/>It’s a book about pregnancies and births, both for omegas and female betas.<br/>He turns beet red and opens his mouth to say something.<br/>Anything.<br/>“it looks like you need it”<br/>The woman says with a wink.<br/>And he can’t exactly deny it, although he had tried to suppress it, he fears the birth.<br/>His knowledge with pregnancies and births is almost nonexistent, so this will be perfect.<br/>And in mareze, none the less.<br/>Why this woman would have this kind of book, in a language foreign for this area, made no sense.<br/>Kain had spent quite some time learning the languages spoken in the areas the traveled through, after being so ignorant in the beginning of their journey.<br/>So, in addition to mareze, Brin’s language tamareeze and viorin from Viora, he now learns sarian.<br/>He’s getting better at it, working with Darva during some days, but that doesn’t explain how this woman got this book.<br/>Either way, he hasn’t got any money on him, so he shakes his head and tries to give it back.<br/>But the woman refuses, saying something about the stars telling her to bring it today, knowing it would be needed.<br/>He finally gives up, thanks the woman and goes back to camp.<br/>To be honest to himself, he really wants this book, to read it and preparing himself.<br/>His baby will come in a few months, knowing what to expect will make it so much easier.<br/>With a small smile on his face, one hand holding his new book and the other caressing his bump, he heads for his nest of blankets.<br/>Loosing himself in reading about sore tits and Braxton hicks, breathing while pushing and the biology of male omegas.<br/>The chapter about what to eat and what to not eat while pregnant scares him a little, until he finds out that it was quite simple.<br/>Eat healthy, enough protein and vegetables, all in all like they where eating while on the road.<br/>Before he knows it, the dust sets in and Brin comes to tell him the dinner is ready.<br/>The rest of the week, Kain reads his new book from cover to cover, telling it all to a tired Brin when they curl up together at night.</p>
<p>The last night before they leave Rino, Milo cooks the biggest stew Kain have ever seen, and a lot of the villagers join them for a night of laughter and joy.<br/>If the pilgrims take a longer time than normally to be ready to leave the next morning, nobody talks about it.<br/>Much.<br/>Kain shakes his head to all the people asking him for help with their head aches when they stop for a break later that same day, but unfortunately for the hangovers, the only cure is fluid and time. </p>
<p>One thing they didn’t have at Rino, is a new wagon.<br/>The mud has dried up, and soon they leave the area destroyed by the flood, so the horses can’t pull the sledges any longer.<br/>Special bags are made for the horses, and the sledges is altered again so that two men could carry them like a gurney or something.<br/>But even with all the heavy food on the back of the horses, and the lighter but bigger pots and pans on the gurneys, everybody have a lot on their back.<br/>Except Kain, being pregnant meant not being able to carry anything heavy, apparently.<br/>He argues with Brin until the man lets him carry his own pack, but everything extra is fastened on Brin’s pack.<br/>Kain starts of grumbling the first day, even Melody is given a heavy load, he wants to do his share too!<br/>But as the days goes on, he’s silently gratefully, his lower back and hips complaining when it’s time to set camp.<br/>Not that he is telling anybody that, of course.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>comments?<br/>likes?<br/>yes pleace!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0018"><h2>18. Chapter 18</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>18.</p>
<p>After three days, they finally arrive the city of Aram. <br/>The place looks incredible.<br/>Following the road over a  beautiful cobblestone bridge, up to a tall archway set in a white stone wall.<br/>Towers peak over said wall, making it look almost like a castle and not a city.<br/>When they come closer, and can see the city inside, the cobblestone is outshined by the bright white houses standing tall.<br/>The brickwork is only devided by deep brown wooden beams, the same woodwork framing the windows.<br/>Slim flowerpots with delicate violets and pinks guards what looks like brand new doors.<br/>The whole picture looks to clean to be real, like they shouldn’t walk in there with their dirty shoes.<br/>Kain grimaces, thinking of all the times they have been welcomed with open arms and big smiles in the small villages they have encountered on their journey.<br/>He doubts they would be welcomed like that here.<br/>Even their group of leaders looks weary, leading them around the city itself in stead of walking through it, and to a small field outside a smaller entrance guarded with only one guard.<br/>Rhys takes three of his men with him to ask for permission to set camp, the rest of them sitting down to rest. <br/>They have been walking hard these couple of days, and it’s mid afternoon when they first arrive, so it feels good to sit down.<br/>But after a while, just sitting there waiting gest boring.<br/>When the sun goes down over the trees in the distance, and Rhys and his men have still not yet returned to them, people begins to get restless.<br/>All Kain wants to do is sleep.<br/>Maybe after some food, his stomach is growling.<br/>But they were told to not set up camp before they got the all clear, and to not enter the city itself under any circumstances, so they just sit there.<br/>And wait.</p>
<p>Singing and laughter wakes Kain up from where he had fallen asleep with his head in Brin’s lap.<br/>It’s Rhys and his trio that walks towards them, stumbling drunk down the road to their field.<br/>Kain have just enough time to get angry with the men, before they leave the area lighted up by torches.<br/>Suddenly the drunken stupor is replaced with stern faces, as Rhys signals them all to come close.<br/>They tell them that they finally had been granted permission to stay on this field, but only after bribing the headguard with cheep beer.<br/>Going with him to a pub, sharing stories from their travels and nursing the same beer the whole night, fooling the man to think they were buddies and of course should be allowed to stay. <br/>Apparently, Aram doesn’t want travelers and hobos and the likes dirtying their perfect city, sullying the important men and women living there.</p>
<p>But, behind the polished streets in the front of the city, in the shadow of the wealthy, the dark rules.<br/>Here, everybody can get everything for the right price.<br/>During the days, the shops flourishes, selling goods to servants and the ones not quiet rich enough to have one.<br/>Appearance is all, so dirty travelers could not be seen here.<br/>They are left with selling and buying what they need at the big marked, supplying the city with exotic spices and foreign fabrics.<br/>How those things mysteriously end up in the homes in the rich part of Aram, is not talked about. <br/>The blacksmith and carpenters and the like are also found here, where their noise can’t reach the rich.<br/>Even further back, where it feels like the sun never shines, the brothels and the casinos make their living.<br/>Actually, tough most of the wealthy tries to ignore everything behind the perfect facade in the front, most of the riches comes from the businesses here.<br/>In the fear of someone finding out their dirty secretes and ruining their spotless reputation in the wealthy part of town, even the travelers selling and buying at the marked must be wetted. <br/>Fooling a guard to think they were friends, was the fasted way to get permission to stay and to do their business.     </p>
<p>During the night, the whole city reeks of something rotten.<br/>The rich showing of their latest and most expensive purchasing and hottest lovers.<br/>The poor scavenge for food, trying to keep themselves and their loved ones alive for another day.<br/>The thugs stealing and coning, looking for whatever they can get their hands on.<br/>So, the best place to be after nightfall, is right where they are.<br/>In a small field outside the city, with their mercenaries watching over them.<br/>Milo makes a quick meal over the newly lit firepit, while tent and tarps are set up.<br/>They double the guards, making sure nobody to sneak into their camp during the night.<br/>Both the stories they now are told about Aram, and the whole nightmare with Vito, had made sure of that.  </p>
<p>Luckily, they are left alone the rest of the night.<br/>While eating breakfast, a plan is made to make this stay as short as possible.<br/>Buying a new wagon and more food is the main priority, but clothes is still a shortage for some of them.<br/>They don’t need a lot of clothes while traveling like this, but something for hot days and something for warm days, plus a couple of changes is the minimum.<br/>And Kain needs to buy something he can grow into, the bump growing more for each week.</p>
<p>Rhys tells them that women and male omegas are looked at as properties here, even worse than in Vito, so they must always have guards with them. <br/>It’s decided that Rhys along with two of his own men, and Milo, would buy the wagon and some more food, taking one of the horses with them for transportation.<br/>Three women will go shopping for the clothes needed, guarded by four guards, one of them an alpha.<br/>Kain and Brin will join that group, making it five guards and four to be guarded.<br/>The rest of them will stay at the camp, preparing to make sure their group could leave as soon as possible.<br/>And, making sure the nightguards sleep to prepare for the next night.<br/>The camp is also guarded by four guards, they are really not taking any changes here.</p>
<p>Walking trough the marked, Kain looses himself in all the colors and smells.<br/>The group stays close, not stopping before they reach the area where the clothes are sold.<br/>One of the women has a list over who needs what, and soon they are holding up clothes and bargaining with the sellers.<br/>Looking around, Kain can’t find any stall the sells clothes for male omegas and their pregnancies and feels a little down.<br/>But Liza finds a couple of overalls she says she can easily alter to fit his growing stomach.    <br/>Soft sleeping pants matched with long shirts are also a match according the her, and his mood rises again.<br/>Then he turns around and spot a colorful stall, filled with silk shirts and rolls of soft fabric.<br/>He drags Brin over with him, touching shirts and dreaming like he did back in Wilder.<br/>A deep blue roll of fabric speaks to him, whispering at him to buy it.<br/>Even if the fabric isn’t silk, it’s still incredible soft, and would be perfect for baby clothes.<br/>Brin agrees, giving the man selling it way too much money for it.<br/>Kain should feel bad for spending so much money on fabric, but it’s so soft and beautiful…<br/>Raised voices makes them turn around, where they see Liza arguing with another woman.<br/>They are both holding on to the same piece of clothing, on of the overalls she had picked out for him.<br/>“you don’t need all these clothes; I want that overall!”<br/>Liza tries to tell the woman that the overall is already sold to her, that they did indeed need all these clothes since it was for several people, but there where no use.<br/>“the color would be perfect for a dress for my little girl, almost like the ones used at the winter formal!”<br/>One of their guards tries to reason with the lady, but it’s like she doesn’t see them.<br/>Kain get irritated with all the commotion the woman makes, it was supposed to be a quick and quiet, in and out of the city kind of thing, and now he can see a couple of city guards looking their way.<br/>He walks over, and physically put himself in between the two women, with his back to Liza.<br/>“those overalls are bought to me, I will need them, and now you have to let go.”<br/>He pushes out his bump, making sure she sees it, and grabs Brin’s hand at the same time.<br/>She looks at his stomach, then their hands, and finally looks up and up until she sees Brin’s face.<br/>Mumbling something about disgusting omegas, she let’s go and walks away.<br/>The city guards are walking in their direction now, but since they all are finished shopping, they make their way back to camp.</p>
<p>Sitting around the firepit eating dinner, they all talk about what they had encountered during the day.<br/>Buying the wagon wasn’t as easy as they had hoped, but after some bargaining and even some flexing of muscles, they where promised a restored one the next day.<br/>It wasn’t the best wagon for them, being used by one brothel owner carting his girls to and from private parties in the better parts of the City.<br/>The man had bought a regular open wagon, and payed a carpenter to build a thin frame on it, before draping it in a golden fabric to resemble the ones used by the rich and famous.<br/>After being caught one to many times with his garish wagon, he had to sell it back to the carpenter with a big loss.<br/>Rhys had finally managed to get the carpenter to change the fabric to something more durable and leaving the back of the wagon open.<br/>The fabric would shelter the luggage better, but it would also raise the temperature inside a lot under the sun.<br/>But they had to take that wagon or wait at least two weeks for another.<br/>And they didn’t want to wait.<br/>The only thing that had happened at the campsite during the day, was a small group of dressed up boys slinking close before they shouted insults.<br/>As soon as the saw one of the guards, the panicked and ran away.<br/>Then it’s time to tell the story from the marked.<br/>Which made most of them holler in laughter, when Liza described the face of the woman when her eyes had traveled up and up before meeting Brin’s eyes.</p>
<p>The mood in the camp stayed like that all trough the evening and into the night, until the guards triggered the alarm.<br/>In seconds, the camp was up and alert, meeting the group walking towards the camp head on. <br/>Some of the men coming towards them are shouting drunkenly, laughing over their own insults towards the pilgrims.    <br/>The group isn’t large, but it isn’t small either.<br/>It looks like most of the men are in their late teens or early twenties, dressed in all from rags to some really find garments.<br/>Kain thinks that’s a strange mixture of poor and rich, especially in a city like this, but he doesn’t really know what they want either. <br/>Their own group are ready to fight them, if that’s what they want.<br/>But it soon becomes clear that fighting is the last thing these men wants.</p>
<p>As with Rhys and his men the first day here, as soon as the men leave the light of the torches, their demeaner changes. <br/>“I’m sorry to bother you like this, in the middle of the night, but this is the only time where we could do this.”<br/>One of the men dressed like the few servants Kain had seen, walks forwards to them.<br/>“we heard of what happened at the marked today and figured out that if you let a pregnant male omega walk around like that, that maybe you could help us.”<br/>Looking back at his friends behind him, some of them comes forward and pulls up their right sleeve, showing their wrist to Rhys.<br/>The one that had spoken did the same, before he continues to talk.<br/>“all omegas in this city is marked like this, it means we are property.”<br/>Dark marks had been burned into their skin, a simple triangular shape of ugly scares.<br/>The alphas in Kain’s group all growled, a sound Kain had never heard from them before, but that instantly made him feel safe.<br/>It didn’t have quiet the same effect on the group standing in front of them, but Kain couldn’t feel any fear either.</p>
<p>“I know it’s a lot to ask for, and we would never do this if we had any other choice, but…<br/>There’s talks about making a census, to search the whole city for hidden omegas, taking away everyone’s freedom.<br/>Coming from the richer part of the city, that mean you would be married away to whoever want you, regardless of what you want.<br/>In the rest of the city, that normally means being sent to one of the brothels.”<br/>Kain can see several of the men curl in on themselves, and he remembers his short stay at the brothel in Vito.<br/>Bile fills his mouth, and he swallows hard to keep himself from vomiting.<br/>“is there any way we can come with you, just until we are far enough away to be safe?<br/>We don’t have a lot, but we are all ready to work for it, everyway you want us to.<br/>Whatever it takes.”<br/>Kain feels a shiver run down his spine.<br/>Not that kind of work, not in this group.</p>
<p>Someone has already filled the firepit with more wood, and Milo is busy making what smells like tea for them all.<br/>The special tea with calming herbs that Kain had taught him.<br/>After everyone have a cup in their hands, wherever Milo had found them all, Rhys brings a couple of them over to have a meeting.<br/>Kain sees a young man sway on his feet and shouts, Brin gets him just in time to stop him from hitting his head on the ground.<br/>Even unconscious, the man holds his right arm close, and with the glance Brin gives Kain, he hurries over.<br/>“he was just caught last week, after staying hidden all his life.<br/>I don’t think the one marking him liked that…”<br/>Carefully, they moved his arm and revealed the new burn.<br/>Kain couldn’t stop the bile this time, just barley managed to turn away from the unconscious man before he violently emptied his stomach.<br/>The burn was swollen and oozing pus, the edges black showing dead skin and more.<br/>If he couldn’t stop this gangrene, and that fast, the man would loos his life.<br/>A good doctor could probably save his life by amputating the arm, but there where no doctors here who would bother.<br/>It was just an omega after all…<br/>When his stomach calms down, he cleans his face with the wet cloth given to him, and then take his bag full of herbs that Brin had picked up for him.<br/>He then spends a long time cleaning the wound as carefully but thorough as he could, before bandaging it.</p>
<p>It didn’t surprise him that the group of omegas was coming with them, even with the dangers involved with “stealing property” and with the added costs to their group.<br/>Some of the omegas came from families with money, but the majority of them only owned whatever they had on their body.<br/>Or, none of them owned anything, according to this city, but that would change for this group from now on.<br/>All the omegas left their camp well before sunrise, sneaking back to where they came from.<br/>Even the one with the nasty wound had to go back, taking of his bandages to not raise any suspicion.<br/>This was dangerous for them all, but most of all for the omegas themselves. </p>
<p>After a short meeting among the pilgrims, it was decided that Milo would go with Rhys when he would pick up the wagon, to buy some more food like rice and dried meat.<br/>Some of the ones that stayed behind the day before would go to the marked to buy some more blankets and so.<br/>They couldn’t buy too much, not to bring any suspicion on them, hoping to get as far as possible away from Aram before it was found out that a lot of their omegas was gone.<br/>Since the group of omegas was so divers, with them coming from all parts of the city, they hoped that the alarm wouldn’t go off in Aram for at least one night.<br/>That way, they would have time to both get some distance away, and hopefully to hide the group of omegas somewhere secure before the city guards came running to check in with the pilgrims.<br/>With their group leaving at the same time as the omegas disappear, they should be the first suspects. <br/>Scouts where already sent out, searching for something suitable.</p>
<p>As planed, the omegas come slinking one by one during the night.<br/>They are dressed up in spare clothes the pilgrims have prepared for them, a lot of them as women.<br/>Giggling nervously the omegas in disguise hides among the regular pilgrims as the whole group starts their journey.<br/>Calmly, the pilgrims smile to the guards on duty and bids them farewell.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0019"><h2>19. Chapter 19</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>19.</p>
<p>They walk hard all day, pushing the omegas to the max.<br/>Narin spending most of the day lying in the wagon, his wound not looking any better.<br/>Melody doesn’t look good either, still working through all that had happened, and have to spend part of the day riding.<br/>But Kain is stubborn, if all these more or less starved omegas can walk, so can he.<br/>It’s not before it’s almost too dark to see where there are walking, that they finally set camp.<br/>Brik makes a quick but filling meal, wanting everybody to fill their stomach before they fall asleep.<br/>It wasn’t possible to buy more than two tarps in Aram, so unfortunately the new omegas have to curl together under the two they got.<br/>Not that they seem to mind, to tired to care and to scared for the future to complain.<br/>Kain had been a little unsure about the three obviously coming from the rich part of Aram, but he didn’t need to be.<br/>It’s clear that sleeping outdoors is something new to them, but they just copy what the rest is doing, and is soon sound asleep.</p>
<p>The scouts had come back right before they set camp, having found a cave well hidden in a dense forest.<br/>After a meeting with Rhys, the scouts, guards and the omega that first talked to them two nights ago, a plan is made.<br/>Just before the sun comes up, the omegas are woken up with a simple breakfast, and then lead away.<br/>It’s eleven omegas, three guards and one scout that sneaks away as the first ray of sun reach the camp.<br/>The rest of them goes on as if this is a normal day, nothing out of ordinary, just doing as they do each morning.<br/>Kain have a hard time not thinking about all the thinks his group of pilgrims have been doing since he joined them, and it have been a lot.<br/>Those strong, fearless and soulless mercenaries he had first seen back at the quarry, had proven themselves to be filled with empathy and compassion, a great sense of justice, and a willingness to fight for does that needed it.<br/>From rescuing Liza, Sol, Melody and him, to hunting down dangerous criminals, to help rebuild housing in Rino, to now risking everything for a group of oppressed omegas running away.<br/>Not that the rest of his travel companions is any less fantastic, he’s really proud of being a part of this group of pilgrims.<br/>And, if anybody notice the single tear running down his cheek while he packs up his things, he will blame it on his pregnancy.</p>
<p>They walk at a more normal speed today, not wanting it to look too suspicious when the guards come riding from Aram.<br/>But as the day goes by, nobody comes, and that just makes everybody tensing up.<br/>Had they caught the group trying to hide?<br/>Had they not noticed that so many of their omegas were gone?<br/>Or did they not care?<br/>Kain is going mad, irritated and grumpy.<br/>After he snaps at someone for some trifle for the fourth time, Rhys decides that they should stop for the day.<br/>Huffing, Kain walks a bit away from the campsite, trying to calm down some.<br/>This is just stupid. <br/>He will have to apologize later, when he is himself again.</p>
<p>Then the sound of horses makes him hurry back, sliding up to Brin’s side right before the group of guards finds them.<br/>At gunpoint, Rhys tries to help them as much as he can, even if he doesn’t understand what kind of property they are looking for.<br/>For the next hour, the whole camp gets turned upside down, the guards making a mess of everything in their search for the runaways.<br/>Rhys only raises his voice when they start looking trough packs and tear down tarps, arguing that there’s no way anyone could hide in a pack!<br/>They had “found out” after half an hour that it was omegas they where looking for, which made the mercenaries pulling their groups omegas close, guarding them like they thought that the guards from Aram would take them.<br/>And if the frazzled group desperately searching didn’t noticed that several of the pilgrims had to stifle their smiles, it didn’t surprise Kain.<br/>The runaway omegas could probably have stayed with them, dressed like women, and not been found out.<br/>He’s glad he isn’t one of the guards coming back without them…<br/>But finally, they give up, leaving again in a cloud of dust.<br/>Not that they believe that that’s the last time they would se those guards, the plan was to wait at least a couple of more days before sending the wagon back for the omegas in hiding.</p>
<p>When they stop for a break the next day, the guards come back.<br/>But after some shouting and threatening and waving with their guns, they have to leave empty handed again.<br/>In the early morning the day after that, the scout that followed the omegas comes running in to camp.<br/>The infected wound on Narin’s arm is getting worse, and he now has a high fewer.<br/>After hurriedly emptying the wagon, Rhys, Brin and Kain follow the scout’s lead back to the cave.<br/>Kain isn’t quite sure why Rhys goes with them, but he’s not going to stop his leader from anything he wants to do, especially when he looks like he does right now.<br/>All alpha and pure power.<br/>Strange. </p>
<p>They arrive close to the cave after just a few hours, and Kain grabs his bag and runs inside with Rhys right behind him, leaving Brin to care for the horses.<br/>Narin is shaking lying under all the blankets they had brought here.<br/>Kain takes a deep breath before taking a look at the arm, and his worst fear is confirmed.<br/>The gangrene has grown, and the only way to save this man’s life is by removing his underarm.<br/>But Kain isn’t a doctor, and this cave isn’t an operating room.<br/>Seeking his leader’s eyes for answers, it’s clear that Rhys know what’s happening and what would have to be done to give this man a change.<br/>A single nod is all Kain need before he gives out orders all around.<br/>Soon water is boiling on the fire right outside the cave, and most of the omegas are out of site; and probably hearing distance.<br/>Brin is cleaning and sterilizing a couple of knifes over the fire, while Rhys is ripping sheets into strips before boiling them.<br/>Another pot with boiled water is standing next to Kain, he is using it to clean Narin’s arm, trying desperately to avoid any infections in the wound he will make.<br/>If the omega makes it out of surgery, that is.<br/>He feels more like a butcher then a doctor at the moment, but he has to try.<br/>Anger fuels him, anger towards the one burning Narin at the first place, anger at the way Aram treats omegas, anger at how unfair the world is.</p>
<p>When all the preparations are done, knives sharp and strips of fabric drying by the firepit, Kain closes his eyes and takes a deep breath.<br/>Opening them again, he grabs the biggest knife, and turns towards the omega.<br/>A tourniquet is tighten around Narin’s upper arm, hopefully slowing down the bleeding.<br/>He doesn’t want to look at the man, wants to keep his distance, but he knows he can’t.<br/>Both Rhys and Brin are ready to hold Narin down, expecting the pain to wake the man up.<br/>He has to lay as still as possible, if Kain should have change to make this.<br/>As the knife cuts trough the skin and the layers underneath, Narin wakes with a shout.<br/>Desperately wanting the omega to lay still, Rhys ends up almost laying on top of the man, whispering calming words in his ear.<br/>It seems to work a little, and Kain focuses back on the shoulder.<br/>He has to dig around a little, not an expert on human anatomy, but relying on his memories from helping his father with parting a deer as a teen.<br/>Finally, he finds the elbow joint, and changes to a smaller and narrower knife, quickly cutting the tendons holding the arm together. <br/>As soon as the arm is loos, he throws it away an focuses on stopping the bleeding as fast as possible.<br/>He has prepared a bandage with some herb mixture to help for the bleeding and covers the wound with it.<br/>It bleeds trough right away, but he just adds some more bandages and put some pressure on it.   <br/>The omega had finally fallen unconscious, and as the bleeding finally slows down, he takes off the tourniquet and puts on a firm bandage from the wound and all the way up to the shoulder.<br/>After making sure that Narin is breathing and calm, he stumbles outside the cave and empties his stomach.<br/>Again.</p>
<p>Then it’s the waiting game.</p>
<p>Everyone is on high alert, scared for their friend and scared for the guards out searching for them.<br/>Unsecure of what the future will bring them, and a new fear of what would happened to their loved ones that they left behind.<br/>They had tried to not think about that last thing, knowing that if they stayed in Aram they would probably die soon.<br/>Only about a third of the omega that ran with them are branded as one, and with Narin in mind, it’s not difficult to understand why they where so desperate that they approached strangers in the middle of the night for help. <br/>Now that Narin had survived the amputation, the next question is what they should do now.<br/>The newly operated omega could not be moved yet obviously, but staying here for much longer is dangerous for them all.<br/>In the end, they decide to stay one more night and day, and then move on.<br/>They will have to move during the nights, not knowing if the guards were still searching in this area.<br/>If Narin survives, he will have to stay in the wagon, and leaving the rest of them to walk.<br/>Nobody seams to mind that, but it means it will take them longer to reach the rest of the pilgrims, who is now stuck at their camp without the wagon and horses.</p>
<p>All of this is dangerous, and Kain have a bad feeling in his stomach.</p>
<p>Narin survives the night and is even awake enough during the day that Rhys can get him to drink something.<br/>Their leader refuses to leave the omega’s side, protective alpha all the way.<br/>It makes Kain smile a little inside, seeing their leader tender like that.<br/>As the sun set, they load the wagon and slowly makes their way towards the camp.<br/>The scout had been running around so much the last week that Kain didn’t understand how he could still be standing, but he was.<br/>Nobody had visited their camp since they left, at least before the scout had checked on them, and he hadn’t seen any sign of the guards on his way either.<br/>But they still make sure nobody is close by, their guards taking turns to check out their surroundings.<br/>Everybody is on so high alert, watching out for the guards looking for them, watching over Narin, watching the road they are following for any stones or roots that can jostle the wagon.<br/>So, alert on any danger, that when the sun comes up, it takes them by surprise...<br/>There is no shelter close by that they can use, so with no other solution the continues their walk, even more alert then before.</p>
<p>In the early afternoon, they reach the rest of their group.<br/>They have already packed down their camp, being told that they where on their way, so after a short stop to feed the omegas and organize the wagon to make room for both food and Narin, their walking again.<br/>It’s still slow moving, making sure to not jostle the wagon more than they have to, but at least they move forward.<br/>Staying in that camp for even longer, with no horses or wagon in sight, would not look good.<br/>Rhys has finally left Narin, and is now talking with his friends, making plans for the next few days.</p>
<p>When they finally set camp that evening, and Kain can sit down, he feels the last of his reserves leave him.<br/>He’s so tired.<br/>The baby is kicking, his legs are cramping, and his head hurts.<br/>Luckily, Brin takes care of everything for them, so all Kain have to do is eat the food he is given, before falling a sleep enveloped in his alpha.<br/>Strangely enough, or maybe not, nobody comes looking for the omegas anymore.<br/>They where unsure when the they reach the first village after Aram, so just a small group entered it in search for bandages and other thing needed for Narin, but no one there say anything.     </p>
<p>Faray, one of the omega’s coming from the richer parts of Aram, comes up to Kain when they set camp that night, asking if he could talk to him private.<br/>Looking around, Kain nodded before walking towards where he could hear some water running.<br/>People tried not to overhear what was obviously a private conversation, but the look on the other omega’s face told him that that would not be enough for him.<br/>Sitting down on some big rock close to the river, he faces Faray.<br/>The man seems incredibly nervous, but also determined to say what he need to say.<br/>“I…I don’t know how to say this, but...<br/>There’s another reason that Rik and I needed to get away from Aram.<br/>We are…. I mean… the two of us…”<br/>Desperately, the young omega looks at him, begging him to understand what he can’t force himself to say out loud.<br/>Kain just looks back at him for some seconds, before it clicks.<br/>“oh! The two of you are a couple?”</p>
<p>Faray blushes beet red, his head swirling this way and that, making sure that nobody heard.<br/>“yeah… we kind of grew up together, he was the son of our cook, and my only real friend.<br/>My father would have exploded if he ever found out, the son of a servant was not someone that should be around his heir, even after he found out I was an omega.<br/>But we got very good at finding hiding places, sneaking around at night or if my father was gone. <br/>As we grew older things changed, one night we ended up mating.<br/>Father got suspicious and even firmer with me, and one night he almost caught us.  <br/>I was so scared.<br/>He would have beaten me, but Rik would not get of that easy.<br/>That’s why I knew we had to take our chance with you.<br/>Our only hope is getting to Baltran, things like genders doesn’t mean that much there.<br/>I’m born there, and still know someone that can help us, as long as we get there alive.<br/>But last night, when we sneaked away for a little alone time, I think someone saw us.<br/>One of the alphas I think, and now Rik is terrified!”<br/>Wet eyes plead with him, for what Kain isn’t sure of.<br/>He doesn’t know what the omega thinks he can do about this, there are several alphas still traveling with them since the whole thing back in Vito, and he have no idea what those men would do about something like this.<br/>Hell, he has no idea what Rhys and his friends would do!<br/>He has heard a lot since he left his little hometown, and two omegas being together is considered a big taboo.<br/>Since two omegas can’t impregnant each other, no matter if they are female or male, it’s a waste of good breeders or something.<br/>He has never heard anything here in this group, but that doesn’t mean much.<br/>This was something he have to think about, maybe talk to Brin to see what he thinks, without revealing why of course.     <br/>Not that the alpha wouldn’t see that it was about some of the omegas in their group, but...<br/>Since Kain somehow had become the one everybody came to with their problems, coming up with support and solutions, it’s difficult to turn people down.<br/>After trying to calm down the omega a little, he tells him he’s going to think about it, but that he can’t promise anything.<br/>Faray doesn’t look much better after their conversation, but there is nothing to do about that.<br/>He just hopes that if the alpha really caught them, that he didn’t make a ruckus out of it. </p>
<p>Melody grows more and more depressed as the days goes by.<br/>She’s barely eating or taking care of herself.<br/>Her hair is greasy and dirty, plastered to her head, her face grin with dust and old sweat.<br/>They can all go several days without cleaning their hair or changing clothes, water sometimes being sparse, but cleaning their hands and face are rarely a problem. <br/>Melody doesn’t even change her clothes and is wearing the same one for the second week in a row now.    <br/>Finally, her sisters more or less force her down to the river and cleans her themselves.<br/>The three of them is quiet when the come back, the oldest one sending Kain several glances throughout the evening.<br/>As the night falls, and people curls up under their tarps, a hand on his shoulder stops Kain in his track.<br/>“Melody is pregnant.”<br/>Kain gapes.<br/>Ones again, that girl had hid something major from him.<br/>Ones again, he hadn’t noticed.<br/>Thinking back, he realizes that even with how poorly Melody had been eating, her dress had continued to sit well around her stomach.<br/>Not noticing this, with all the things that have been going on is probably not strange, but Melody is his friend. <br/>He gives the woman a signal to follow him, and goes further out of the camp, not wanting anybody to hear them.<br/>“do you know who the father is? how far along is she”  <br/>Sara just shakes her head. <br/>“She tried to deny she was pregnant, but her stomach was round and her breast heavy. <br/>Then she cried and repeated over and over that she didn’t want it.<br/>That it would forever remind her of everything she had lost, everything taken away from her by her own hands.”<br/>Sara is crying in his arms now, Kain himself feels tears run down his cheek.<br/>His own belly is rounding out quiet well, and just the thought of not wanting his baby makes his heart ache.<br/>What should, or could they do now?</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>kudos?<br/>comments?<br/>bookmark?</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0020"><h2>20. Chapter 20</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>20.</p>
<p>Melody is pregnant.<br/>What should, or could they do now?</p>
<p>They don’t find any answers to their questions that night, after crying out their heartache and frustration, Kain’s so tired he can’t think.<br/>So, they deiced to sleep on it, and talk with Melody the next night together.<br/>Kain doesn’t know how much more he can take now.<br/>Even with how tired he is, sleep doesn’t come to him.<br/>After moving around huffing for god knows how long, Brin gets enough.<br/>He blankets Kain with his own body and kisses him deeply.<br/>It hasn’t been a lot of time for intimacy lately, and it doesn’t take much to get Kain going.<br/>Brin nips and kiss under his ear, down his neck, before pulling a nipple into his mouth.<br/>Kain keens, not knowing how sensitive they have become, making Brin rumble happily.<br/>The alpha then spends a long time worshipping Kain’s body, caressing and tasting, grabbing and playfully biting.<br/>Kain is a blabbering mess before Brin listen to his begging and gives him what he really wants.<br/>Filling him up so deliciously, deep and slow.<br/>Brin never stops caressing him, kissing him, nuzzling him…<br/>All to soon Kain feels his orgasm building, but with the sounds Brin is making, he knows the alpha isn’t far behind.<br/>With his breathing back to normal, and both his and Brin’s left arms around the bump, Kain falls asleep. </p>
<p>After their leaving Aram, it some becomes painfully obvious that the city is sucking everything they can from their surroundings.<br/>The runaway omegas tell Kain that even if Aram isn’t the capital of Saria, the city is taking on the responsibility of the villages and settlements, since their capital is so far away.<br/>Aram are supposed to take care of the area, but for each time they pass a small settlement or village, the poverty and desperation among the people grows.<br/>Hollow cheeks and dull eyes look at them in fear, no welcoming party meeting them.<br/>Usually they hurry past these places, not wanting to bother the persons living there.<br/>It hurts, just leaving them, but there is nothing they can really do.<br/>Even if these people need all the food they can get, the game is sparse and their hunting often unsuccessful.<br/>They have just enough for their own group, being much bigger than before, Milo’s stew not as endless as it used to be.</p>
<p>The terrain is also getting sparser, the few trees small and crocked.<br/>Walking all day uphill on hard ground reminds Kain that he’s pregnant, his body not so forgiving of the abuse he’s putting it through anymore.<br/>The days when he could push himself to the maximum and beyond long gone.<br/>Luckily Brin’s warm hands massages and caresses the aches and pains away each night, before wrapping Kain in his strong arm to keep him warm.<br/>Both him and their baby.<br/>The weather turns harsher too, like it’s late fall and not late spring.<br/>Dry wind sneaks under his clothes, not exactly cold, but not warm either.<br/>According to their leaders, their journey would soon end.<br/>Maybe another couple of weeks, the information they have been given being a little diffuse.<br/>Originally, they had planned to take different route towards Baltran, their finale goal.<br/>But with the whole flood destroying roads and totally changing the look of the landscape, they had ended up here.<br/>With just some vague directions and timelines given by some drunken guard back in Aram.<br/>They were told the last stretch would be hard, but when Rhys had asked why, the man had just laughed.<br/>After the months they have had traveling so far, Kain is fairly sure they can make it, what ever it is.</p>
<p>A couple of days after Faray talked with Kain, the omega pair finds out which alpha that had caught them.<br/>Alek was a sturdy alpha with salt and pepper hair and a big smile.<br/>He joined their group after the whole thing with Vito, wanting a new start in life.<br/>After Aram, he had done everything he could to help all the new omegas, a real gentleman.<br/>But last night, when Faray and Jak had sneaked away for a cuddle and a talk, the alpha had ones again followed them.<br/>So now they are even more afraid, he would even say that Jak is terrified.<br/>He tries to talk to the couple, to calm them down some, but with mixed result.<br/>Since the alpha hadn’t said anything after the first time he saw the omega pair, why would he now suddenly out them?<br/>Kain could see the alpha looking at the pair when he thought nobody saw him, and Kain isn’t sure it’s in a bad way.<br/>He will go as far as thinking the alpha looked at them curiously, maybe even interested. <br/>But he has way too much on his plate to already, so as long as the alpha doesn’t show any signs of not liking the pair, he will let them be.</p>
<p>Narin is still hanging on, he got a fewer again two days after the amputation but lived through it and is now sitting up in stead of spending all day lying on the floor of the wagon.<br/>The wound is closing nicely, incredibly enough, and the man is even eating better.<br/>Rhys is still hoovering around the omega, doting on him so much that Narin had to ask him to leave him alone one day.<br/>But most of the time, the omega just gives the alpha a shy smile…<br/>Kain still finds it both amusing and a little strange, the way their leader is around the omega, but something about it feels familiar.<br/>Something he read in the book he got in Rino, but he can’t remember exactly what it is. <br/>The one day, he wakes up to someone growling.<br/>Squinting his eyes, he looks over to where to sound comes from, and sees Milo standing stock still by the firepit, Rhys growling at him from a slight crouch, like he’s ready to attack the cook.</p>
<p>Bright red eyes sweep around the camp, looking for more dangers, ready to protect the omega sitting on the ground behind him. <br/>Narin looks at the alpha with big eyes and flushed cheeks, confusion written all over his face.<br/>Damn.<br/>Now Kain remembers.<br/>Slowly, he moves over to the group, tilting his head submissively but looking their leader in the eyes at the same time.<br/>“Rhys, Narin has gone into a stress heat, and your instinct is telling you to make sure he is okay.<br/>Milo is no danger to your mate, I’m sure there is something more important to help Narin with now, don’t you think?”<br/>Mates.<br/>Their leader sees Narin as his mate, this will get interesting.<br/>He had seen the glances the omega had given the alpha, so he was quite sure that Narin would like to spend his surprise heat with the man.<br/>But the whole mate thing, that is something else.<br/>Well.<br/>Not the most pressing thing at this moment.<br/>“can I check on Narin, just to make sure he is alright?”<br/>He starts to slowly close his distance again, and despite red eyes following him closely, Rhys lets him all the way up to the poor omega.<br/>“hey, Narin? Are you okay? Do you know what’s happening now?”<br/>The man nods his head but doesn’t look quite sure.<br/>“you are going into heat, probably because all the trauma you have been through lately.<br/>It’s called a stress heat, it hits fast and hard, but is normally over within a day or two.”<br/>Slowly, Narin nods again.<br/>“As you can see, Rhys is very protective of you at the moment, and that may seem dangerous, but he would never do anything to hurt you.”<br/>The omega glances at the alpha again, and with the renewed blush and sweet smell wafting from the man, scared is the last thing he feels over their leader.<br/>Kain have to smile at him.<br/>“just to be sure, do you want to spend your heat with Rhys?<br/>It doesn’t have to mean anything, just because he is all growly now.”<br/>This time, Narin nods enthusiastically, making Kain laugh a little.<br/>He turns around to ask someone to prepare Brin’s horse for the pair, only to see him standing there with the horse ready.<br/>That man is incredible.</p>
<p>Soon, Rhys has Narin in front of him on the horse, eager to get going.<br/>Kain just hopes they don’t meet anyone on their way to where their leader would hide them, that would not end well for any of them.<br/>The man’s all alpha and instinct, the only ting on his mind being his omega.<br/>Yeah…<br/>When an alpha chooses an omega to be their mate, and that omega goes into heat, the alpha would react by going into a rut.<br/>Their instinct would take over, not letting anything but protecting and taking care of their mate inside their brain.<br/>Seeing them ride away, he puts a hand on his stomach and thinks about what had happened during his last heat.<br/>Luckily, a stress heat doesn’t result in a pregnancy, since this kind of heat is about feeling protected and safe, not procreation.<br/>They will be fucking like rabbits, but no baby would be coming out of it.<br/>He glances at Melody, and her now obviously round belly, and think that that’s for the best.<br/>Narin have been through a lot… </p>
<p>Kain almost forget that they had decided to talk to Melody that night, until her sister waves him over.<br/>Sadly, the conversation goes almost as bad as the last time he had to confront his friend with something, Melody refusing to answer anything.<br/>He doesn’t push too much but doesn’t back down before she let him give her a check.<br/>With just having his own bump to compare with, and Sara’a input, they thinks she will probably give birth in two months time, about two months before himself.<br/>This is going to be interesting.<br/>Luckily, they would be in Baltran before that, so he wouldn’t have to help her through it.<br/>He is afraid enough already; he doesn’t need to see someone else in pain right before it’s his turn.     </p>
<p>It takes some time, but as the day goes by, Kain realizes that Brin’s even more quiet than he normally is.  <br/>He doesn’t think too much about it, with everything else that’s happening, but something in the back of his head makes him watch the man closely.<br/>It’s during dinner that night, when for some reason he and Brin ended up sitting opposite each other around the fire instead of knocking shoulders while they eat, that he sees it.<br/>Brin’s subtly tying to adjust himself, hiding his impressive bulge behind his bowl of stew.<br/>Kain just sits there, wondering what on earth is going on with the alpha, as he sees Brin desperately push his hand at the bulge several times.<br/>It’s clear that the man is in trouble, almost like he’s going into a rut, but he knows that isn’t the case. <br/>But why is the man so horny that he has a painful hard on during dinner?<br/>He knows there has been less intimacy between them lately, but if that had been a problem surly the man would have told him?<br/>There’s something murring in the back of his head, like the answer is obvious, but as Brin gets up and disappears into the dark, he still can’t figure out what. <br/>Looking in the direction the alpha had walked away, he doesn’t feel like this is something bad, and he doesn’t want to override his privacy.<br/>But as the time goes by, he gives up and follows after Brin, needing to find out what the problem is.<br/>Even if the two of them share the same bed each night, they haven’t talked about what they are towards each other, but he still feels confident that he wont stumble upon a scene with Brin and someone else.<br/>Mostly confident, at least.<br/>And if he was going to find Brin with someone else, there was no reason for him to be mad about that.<br/>Or even jealous, the haven’t talked about what they are, maybe the giant just stays with him to protect his baby?<br/>No. <br/>That’s not true.<br/>Probably.</p>
<p>As he is thinking all this, ha is walking around in the dark, tying to listening for something to tell him which direction to walk.<br/>Some familiar grunts reach his ears, making the insecurity rear it’s head a little, but there is only sounds from one person.<br/>And as he walks into a tiny clearing, the reason of Brin’s problems suddenly pops into his head.<br/>The man is not in rut, but he is still influenced by the poor omega.<br/>An overdose on heat hormones, setting the alpha’s own hormones on fire.<br/>Brin is leaning up against a tree, his dick in hand, mouth open and his eyes squeezed tight.<br/>Even with the desperate way he works himself over, there is evidence that he has ejaculated several times all ready.<br/>Poor alpha, being that close to the omega in heat had really taken his toll on him.</p>
<p>Taking another step closer, while breaking a stick on purpose, he makes the alpha open his eyes and see him.<br/>Desperation and something like fear shows in his eyes for a few seconds, before lust ones more takes over.<br/>Brin whines and blushes at being caught, but he doesn’t stop stroking.<br/>Kain gives him a small smile, to show that he isn’t mad, and slowly moves closer.<br/>The alpha is moaning and whining, showing his mixed feelings, but Kain doesn’t stop before he is standing right in front of the desperate man.<br/>Slowly, he takes his shirt of, throws it away, and sinks down on his knees.<br/>The alpha is close now, and at the sight of the omega sitting in front of him, his pupils dilate even more.<br/>Looking up at Brin, Kain opens his mouth wide open, and barely manage to close his eyes before the alpha comes with a loud moan, covering his mouth and his whole face in cum.<br/>The whole ting had made Kain hard as a rock, and now it’s his turn to press the heal of his hand at his dick, giving it some friction.<br/>But it’s all about Brin right now, so he removes his hand and, after making sure there are no cum on his eyelids, he opens his eyes and looks up at the man in front of him.<br/>The alpha looks wrecked.<br/>His thighs are shacking, his breath coming out in gasps, and if you don’t count his still rock-hard dick, he would look fully sated.<br/>Whining again, Brin slowly sinks down the tree, leaving him sitting down with Kain between his legs.<br/>“you poor stupid alpha...<br/>Why didn’t you tell me?<br/>Have you been dealing with this all alone all day?”<br/>Kain brush the sweaty hair out of the exhausted mans face, looking into the pleading eyes.<br/>He can feel himself getting wet, just by looking at the gorgeous alpha in front of him.<br/>Standing back up, he hurries to get out of his own pants, before climbing into the mans lap and sinking himself on the nearly purple dick.<br/>He knows fast and hard is what Brin needs now, but that suits him well too, lust running through his body in an abnormal speed.<br/>Latching on to the exhausted alpha’s lips, he soon rides him like his life appends on it.<br/>His own moans soon matching the ones the alpha makes, almost frantic movements brining them both closer and closer to their orgasms.<br/>Afterwards, when they both have calmed their breath and Brin’s hard on is finally gone, Kain tells the alpha how stupid he had been.  <br/>“why on earth did you not come to me, in stead of hurting like this all day?<br/>It’s not like it’s your fault that Narin’s hormones set you of.<br/>It’s nobody’s fault, and I could have helped you this morning!”<br/>Shaking his head, Kain relaxes against the broad chest if front of him, enjoying the arms holding him close.      <br/>He can feel the alpha rumbling, the desperation all gone.<br/>The vibrations are so calming, that before he knows it, he’s deep asleep. </p>
<p>He has two days in peace, before Rhys and Narin catches up with them again.<br/>The omega looked both sated, happy, nervous and unsecure all at ones, which he didn’t know was even possible.<br/>Rhys face is a cold mask, but Kain have known the man long enough to know that it doesn’t mean the man didn’t feel anything.<br/>He ‘s dreading what had happened and what would be happening in the days to come.<br/>After getting of the horse, Rhys finds his men and takes them aside for a meeting, while Narin went over to his friends.<br/>They both stole some glances at each other but stayed at opposite sides of the camp.<br/>Not that it’s any of Kain’s business, but he decides to talk to them the next day.<br/>With the way his body is aching and head hurting, he is going to bed early tonight.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0021"><h2>21. Chapter 21</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>21.</p><p>A whimper wakes him up, followed by a muffled scream.<br/>
Fear runs down his spine, but not as if they were in danger.<br/>
He had seen how Melody was sweating during dinner, even more closed up than normally.<br/>
But this is too soon.<br/>
This would be a couple of months too early, if what he thought was right.<br/>
Rousing Brin and telling him to get Sara and tell Rhys, he follows the sound out of the camp.<br/>
He finds Melody behind a bush close to the stream, standing on all four.<br/>
She’s whispering no over and over, only broken by screams she tries to muffle in the crock of her arm.<br/>
Kain puts a hand on her lower back, making her jump.<br/>
“nonono! Make it stop, Kain! It can’t be happening!<br/>
I don’t want this!”<br/>
Wild eyes pleads with him, but there is nothing he can do.<br/>
He can see the pool of liquid on the ground below her and smell the blood.<br/>
There is no telling how much of the pool that is amniotic water and how much is blood in the dark, but it’s no question that this baby is coming now.<br/>
He can do nothing more than try to calm her down and prepare himself as much as he can.</p><p>Running feet alerts him of Sara coming, followed by Brin with his bag of herbs and Rhys with a torch.<br/>
With Sara’s help, he lifts the dress enough to check how far along she is, the two other men standing guard with their back to them.<br/>
It turns out that there is a lot of blood in the pool.<br/>
Red runs down her thighs, the head already crowning.<br/>
Kain barks orders to Brin to run for some clean blankets and put some water for heating over the fire, this will soon be over.<br/>
There is no use of his herbs here, nothing that would give Melody some pain relive in time, and certainly nothing to slow this birth down.<br/>
Just as Brin comes running back, Melody growls loud and Kain suddenly have a baby in his hands.<br/>
A baby should not fit inside two hands.<br/>
The little boy is far too small.<br/>
Freezing, he just sits there, thinking this is it.<br/>
A small whimper makes him blink tears from his eyes.<br/>
The boy is alive!<br/>
He takes a blanket from Brin and cleans up the baby as fast as he can, before wrapping a clean one around him.</p><p>“no….”<br/>
Sara starts to cry, and for the first time after the baby landed in his arms, Kain looks at Melody.<br/>
She is lying there, still and barley breathing.<br/>
Handing the baby over to Brin, he checks the new mother over.<br/>
The bleeding is slowing down, but with the amount of blood she have already lost, he knows she is fighting for her life.<br/>
Or, he’s hoping she is fighting for her life.<br/>
Even if her breathing is shallow, her heartbeat is not too bad, so he have hope.<br/>
He tell Sara that, and the woman calms down a little.<br/>
Focusing on getting the placenta out, which reduces her bleeding down to almost nothing, he lets out a breath he didn’t know he was still holding.<br/>
After making sure everything else looks okay, he looks up to see Melody looking back at him with tired eyes.<br/>
Together with Sara, he manages to take of the wet and dirty clothes and wrap her in another clean blanket.<br/>
He wonders where Brin have gotten them all from but is thankful that he did.<br/>
Two of Rhys men comes with one of the sledges they had kept after the old wagon, using it as a makeshift stretcher, and carry Melody back to the camp.<br/>
She’s put down close to the fire, where Milo have started with breakfast already.<br/>
A pot is set to the side, filled with warm water.<br/>
Thanking Milo, Kain looks around for Brin.<br/>
He’s sitting on the other side of the fire, looking down on a bundle of blankets in his arms.<br/>
So, the baby’s still alive.</p><p>Kain wants nothing more than to walk over there, but first he has to take another look at Melody.<br/>
A tarp had been used to make a shelter behind the new mother, Sara already cleaning her up some.<br/>
Kain caresses her cheek and asks how she is feeling.<br/>
By the way Melody have turned her head away from the fire and refuses to look him in the eyes, he decides to not congratulate her with her baby.<br/>
She have been clear about not wanting the baby since he found out she was pregnant, but he had hoped it would change when she saw the baby.<br/>
It doesn’t look that way.</p><p>With nothing critical to do with Melody at the moment, he walks around the firepit and sits down beside Brin.<br/>
The baby have been cleaned, and light blue eyes looks up at them.<br/>
Light blue eyes, the same color as Larin had.<br/>
The boy looks so much like his father, and in that moment Kain realizes that Melody will never want her child.<br/>
But looking at Brin’s face, he knows the boy will always be loved.<br/>
If he survives, that is.<br/>
The boy is breathing shallowly, his skin is gray and his lips a little blue.<br/>
He is not in a good shape, not by far.<br/>
Grabbing his bag, that someone had put down beside him, he searches around for what he can use to help the baby.<br/>
He needs help with his breathing, being born so early means his lungs isn’t strong enough to do the job by themselves.<br/>
Being so small, the risk of infections is higher, so something to prevent that would be good.<br/>
The boy would certainly have other problems too, with the drug abuse he was exposed to before he was born, but there is nothing he can do about that right now.<br/>
Keeping him alive is his first priority.<br/>
He decides to make a tea based on chamomile, adding some turmeric to prevent infections and ease any pain, and ginko to help him with the breathing.<br/>
Dosing it right is crucial, and his hands are shaking, but he has to try.</p><p>After the tea is cooled down, the next step is to get the boy to swallow it.<br/>
In the book, it said that premature babies have a hard time nursing, but the boy managed to suck weakly on his little finger.<br/>
So, with pouring a tiny amount of tea in the baby’s mouth at a time, and with a little help from his little finger, enough of the tea ended up in the boy’s stomach.<br/>
Exhausted, the boy falls asleep.<br/>
But it’s soon clear that the tea is doing some good, his breaths becoming deeper and his lips going back to their normal pink color.<br/>
Kain knows the boy isn’t out of danger yet, but for now, it looks okay.<br/>
Brin cradles the baby close, eyes never leaving the bundle in his arms.<br/>
When Rhys comes over, Brin growls, turning away to cover the bundle in his arms even more.<br/>
Protecting him as if the boy is his.<br/>
And maybe he is?</p><p>The little boy survives the night, secure in Brin’s arms.<br/>
Kain wonders how the alpha will be with their own child, after seeing the love and devotion he has for the boy.<br/>
In one way, it’s strange to see how the huge alpha attached himself to another person so fast.<br/>
But on the other side, thinking back on Brin’s actions when Kain was exposed as an omega, it doesn’t surprise him.<br/>
Melody still refuse to even look in the direction of the baby, but is slowly getting better after the birth.<br/>
Kain checks her over when she wakes up, and she is already much better than last night.<br/>
Her face isn’t so pale, she doesn’t bleed more than normal, and even sits up while eating her breakfast.<br/>
Brin lets Kain hold the boy while taking care of his business and eating some breakfast, and Kain spends that time just looking his fill.<br/>
Carefully, he touches a tiny cheek, feeling the soft skin under his finger.<br/>
Pale blue eyes look up at him, blinking slowly a couple of times.<br/>
He still struggles a little with his breathing, but he has drunk some more tea, and even some sugary water in place of breast milk.<br/>
That’s another problem they have to solve quickly, if the little one is going to survive.</p><p>A hand on his shoulder wakes him up from his musings, and Brin signals him to follow him.<br/>
They stop outside what had been their sleeping place, and Kain gapes.<br/>
The tarp is pinned down in a new way, making it even more like a tent, and the inside is filled with blankets and other soft materials making a cozy nest.<br/>
Looking over at Brin, he can see that the man is nervous, and it confuses him.<br/>
What could make Brin nervous?<br/>
He can see the man looking first at the bundle he now has back in his arms, and then to their new sleeping space, and then back to Kain.<br/>
Oh!<br/>
Smiling, Kain crawls inside, and holds out his arms for the boy again.<br/>
“thank you, Brin, this will be perfect for us all.”<br/>
After carefully giving the boy back to Kain, the giant man crawls in too, and they lay the baby between them.<br/>
“let’s give this baby another check, clean him up and pack him in something clean and warm.”<br/>
The brilliant smile he gets back from Brin made his stomach warm, and he pray that the boy will live.<br/>
Brin might be a big tough alpha, but with his big heart filled with love, loosing this boy would hurt him so much.<br/>
The check shows no new problems, but it’s way too early to say of he will survive.<br/>
He’s born about two months too early, and is dejected from his mother, so even if he’s stable now, there’s no way to know what would happened for the next few weeks.<br/>
“Brin, even if he’s stable now, that could change quickly, and it’s not guarantied that he will survive.”<br/>
He looks in the alpha’s eyes, making sure he really understands the severity of this situation.<br/>
“I will do all I can to help him, and I know you will too.”<br/>
A tiny sound comes from the baby, like he wants to tell them he’s there.<br/>
He smiles down at the boy, pulling his close to his own chest.<br/>
Then he sucks in a breath, looking down at the baby that’s nosing around searching for his breast.<br/>
With shaking hands, he pulls up his shirt, and helps to boy to find his way.<br/>
A disbelieving noise leaves his mouth, when the boy latch on.<br/>
The wonders of the human body don’t stop there, soon he se the boy swallow small drops of milk.<br/>
He has heard of omegas producing breastmilk during the last stretch of the pregnancy, and mothers continuing to breastfeed their older childing during a new pregnancy.<br/>
But it hadn’t crossed his mind that he could breastfeed this boy, even when he had tried to think of a solution on that problem earlier…<br/>
After eating for a few minutes, the boy falls asleep again.<br/>
Kain and Brin just looks at each other.</p><p>It soon becomes clear that with Kain’s milk, the boy’s chances increase.<br/>
Kain spends most of the next two days in their tent, nursing and looking after the baby.<br/>
The first time he checks on Melody, there’s a tension between them, none of them knowing what to say.<br/>
His friend knows he’s taking care of the boy, but she refuses to acknowledge that.<br/>
Sara, Melody’s sister, stops him on his way back to the tent and asks if she could se him.<br/>
With Brin watching her every move closely, she carefully pulls the blanket covering the boy aside, a big smile on her face.<br/>
“he’s beautiful.<br/>
And so lucky, with the two of you taking him in.<br/>
Melody will come around, just give her some time.”<br/>
At that, Brin growls.<br/>
“no!<br/>
I didn’t mean like that, this boy is yours, I just meant that she would come around and se that this is for the best.<br/>
Even if the two of you will get your hands full with two small babies in a few months!”</p><p>That’s not something Kain had thought of.<br/>
If their little boy survives, his life will turn around even more than he had thought about.<br/>
They had planed for their baby to be born, in terms of buying some clothes and some fabric to make cloths for the little one.<br/>
Brin had obviously bought several blankets for the baby, which their little boy now used.<br/>
Not that that would be enough now, with hopefully two small babies at the same time in a few months.<br/>
With a sinking feeling in his stomach, Kain realizes that they haven’t talked about the future at all.<br/>
He knew Brin’s over the moon about becoming a father, but he doesn’t know what the alpha plans to do when they reach Baltran.<br/>
They haven’t talked about getting married, they haven’t talked about what they were to each other at all.<br/>
Hell, Kain doesn’t know what he wants to do when they reach Baltran himself!<br/>
A warm hand caresses his cheek, and he looks up meeting Brin’s face.<br/>
The man then signs “I love you” and “together, we will find a way.”<br/>
Kain manages a small smile, before he more or less throws himself into the man’s arms.</p><p>When he manages to calm down, he crawls out of Brin’s lap, giggling a little.<br/>
“yeah... we have a lot to discuss, but the most important thing first.<br/>
What shall we call our little boy?”<br/>
They spend the rest of the day laying out a plan for their future, their future together.<br/>
Brin wants to get married, but Kain sort of wants to it with the traditions he has grown up with.<br/>
So, they decide to buy rings in Baltran, get engaged, and then take it from there.<br/>
Kain had joined the pilgrims for the travels, not their final goal.<br/>
Brin had followed his friends, not wanting to stay back home, not wanting to be left behind.<br/>
None of them had a huge need for starting over in the promised land, as it’s called.<br/>
They will have to see if the place is right for them.<br/>
A lot is up in the air, but the most important things they easily agreed on.<br/>
They are staying together, and their baby boy is named Cy.<br/>
After that wonderful and brave boy they buried under a tree those months ago.</p><p>The next day, Melody is well enough that they can continue on their way.<br/>
She and Narin is sitting in the wagon, sharing the space with foods and pots and tarps and what not, making it cramped but cozy.<br/>
Brin have made a sling for Cy, so Kain can keep him close to his chest while they walk.<br/>
It looks like it pains the alpha to let the boy out of his arms for hours at the time, but with Kain being the food source it’s the most logical solution.<br/>
The alpha then realizes that with both his arms free, he can protect them better, which calms him down.<br/>
Some.</p><p>Narin and Rhys is still watching each other from afar, the omega timidly and the alpha with deep longing in his eyes.<br/>
Kain knew it’s only a matter of time before their leader would break, and he only hopes that the omega will be ready.<br/>
His amputation seems to be a success, the wound healthy and pink.<br/>
It’s clear that the man hates it, though.<br/>
He refuses to look at it when Kain checks it over, turning away with a disgusted look on his face.<br/>
So, Kain really hopes Rhys will give the man space to come to peace with his new appearance before he makes a move.<br/>
There isn’t a lot Kain could do about that, with watching over both Narin and Melody, in addition to caring for his small son, he feels wrung out.<br/>
Luckily, Cy’s growing stronger every day, his breathing normal and his appetite good.<br/>
Kain’s still giving the baby the special tea and wakes up several times a night just to see that he’s still breathing.</p><p>The weather continues to get colder, the nature around them now almost only consisted of dry dirt littered with small bushes and crocked leafless trees.<br/>
Kain thinks they’re even higher now, then what they had been when the snowstorm had buried them in that valley.<br/>
It had been some days since they passed the last settlement, and it couldn’t be long before they reached Baltran.<br/>
But there is no sign of all the greenery and bustling city they had heard of.<br/>
The pilgrims where all tired now, waiting to get a glimpse of their future, but for each day their dreams felt further away.</p><p>Sitting around the firepit that night, watching Brin watching Cy bundled up in his arms again, a shout almost made him jump.<br/>
Over where the wagon is parked, he sees Rhys talking to an agitated Narin.<br/>
The omega shakes his head, turning away from their leader, but he doesn’t move away.<br/>
“please…”<br/>
Slowly, the alpha lifts one hand and cradles one of Narin’s cheeks.<br/>
A miniscule nod from the omega, and he’s pulled into the alpha’s strong arms.<br/>
Kain smiles and turns away.<br/>
Maybe Narin is ready after all.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>It's like this story has a life of it's own!<br/>First, I planed to write just this first part of the series, but as it neared the end, I just had to write another part.<br/>A kind of epilog, a few chapters, I thought.<br/>Now, I have several one shots that will come directly after this part, and then another multi chapters part after that...<br/>Every since we started to write stories of different kinds in school, my problem have been that my imagination gets the best of me, and my stories gets far too long.<br/>hm..<br/>At least, I managed to write some one shots based of this main part?</p><p>I would love any comments, kudos and bookmarks!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0022"><h2>22. Chapter 22</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>22.</p>
<p>In the early afternoon the next day, their surroundings changes.<br/>The dirt under their feet got a layer of fine almost orange sand, and in the horizon, it looks like the ground suddenly disappears.<br/>After a couple of more hours they reaches the edge of the hill, in front of them is a steep slope down to a desert.<br/>Dunes upon dunes with sand, as far as his eyes can see.<br/>All he knows about deserts, is that it got extremely hot during the days, and very cold during the nights.<br/>How on earth where they suppose to continue?<br/>Little Cy is almost two weeks now, and even if his breathing is fine now, Kain didn’t think the boy would survive all that heat and sand.  <br/>Not to talk about his own body, his bump now so big that Cy probably wouldn’t fall of if Kain just placed him on top of it.<br/>Not that he would do such a thing, his boy is staying safely in his sling.<br/>That night, Rhys have what the cook ones had called a war meeting.<br/>Not that they are going to war, but the decision about what they should do now is difficult.<br/>The meeting lasted long after Kain went to bed, so tired that he almost didn’t notice when Brin came crawling in some time during the night.</p>
<p>Everything is too hot when he wakes up the next morning.<br/>The sun is burning his face, sweat running down his neck as soon as he gets out of the tent.<br/>Not that the tent had been any cooler, but he had hoped it would be better outside.<br/>After doing his morning business, and taking care of Cy’s needs, he sist down to eat breakfast. <br/>Looking around, he wonders where Brin is, before he sees the man leave the tent Liza and her husband lives in.<br/>As the alpha comes closer, he sees the man has something in his arms, but he doesn’t understand what it is.<br/>Sitting down beside him, Brin lays the bundle he had with him in Kain’s lap, before taking their son from him.<br/>Immediately, Kain recognizes the fabric as silk.<br/>On the top, there is what looks like a new sling for Cy, and underneath he finds a light blue, long shirt for himself.<br/>There is also a long piece of dark silk lying underneath the shirt, but he doesn’t know what it’s for.</p>
<p>As he turns to Brin to thank him and to ask what the last piece are for, Rhys stands up.    <br/>“We have decided that we have to cross the desert over to Baltran, since we will have to go back to before the flooded area if we want to take another way.<br/>The intel we got from Aram was not the best, but we know that it will take us about three days to cross here.<br/>Both Milo and Faray have crossed this desert at some point, but Milo from another point and Faray was too young to really remember anything.<br/>So.<br/>We have to leave anything that we don’t absolutely need for the rest of the journey here, packed in the wagon.<br/>You will need the thinnest set of clothes you have that also covers your skin, plus something to cover your head and neck with.<br/>This is to protect your skin from both sunburn and the sand, and at the same time making sure you don’t get overheated during the days.<br/>For the nights, you will need to bring a blanket, and maybe a jacket or a sweater or something.<br/>You will each also carry your own water and food for three days, while some tarps and pots and stuff like that will be placed on our sledges. <br/>The plan is to get help to fetch the rest later, but we have no guaranty that the wagon will be left alone, so think carefully before you decide.<br/>Everybody check your belongings.”</p>
<p>Kain can’t remember ever hearing the alpha talk that much at ones, but everybody listened carefully, understanding the importance of this.<br/>He also loves Brin for apparently having bought silk for him and even gotten Liza to sew something with it!<br/>And how the woman managed to sew a new sling this fast.<br/>He can feel his eyes tear up but manages to will them away before they run down his face.<br/>There is no time, he has to check both his and Cy’s stuff and pack them, change clothes on them both, and check Brin’s stuff, and… and…<br/>Again, the giant alpha knows him better that he does himself, folding him up in his arms and calming him down.<br/>He’s scared, okay?<br/>He is heavily pregnant, Cy is just a couple of weeks old, and the dessert is so huge and unpredictable.<br/>Taking several deep breaths, he slowly calms down.<br/>First tings first.<br/>Change clothes on them both, then going through their stuff together with Brin to see if there is something they can leave behind.<br/>It turns out there isn’t a lot, since they both have been traveling light as is it.<br/>But, with little Cy needing changes and there soon to be another baby, there is still a lot of stuff to bring.<br/>In the end, he brings one extra change of clothes, his warm jacket, his bag with herbs, and two extra blankets for Cy and his sister or brother that he refuses to leave behind.  <br/>Keeping his bag with herbs out of his pack as always, there’s enough space in his pack for his rations of food and water and his blanket.<br/>Brin puts an extra water ration in his pack, since Kain’s breastfeeding and will need more water.<br/>The rest of Cy’s things are in a bag similar to the one Kain has his herbs in, which Brin carries.</p>
<p>After changing to his new clothes and putting an almost nude baby in his new sling, he uses the extra piece of silk to cover his head, neck and also as an outer layer for little Cy.<br/>His new skin even more sensitive to both the sun and the sand blowing in the wind.<br/>It makes Kain feel like on of the women he had seen at a marked somewhere, their dark skin almost drowning in all the layers of clothes they had on.<br/>Something about hiding their hair and neck, ankles and wrists from their god or something.<br/>It wasn’t easy to understand what they meant, but all of them looked so happy that he just smiled back at them.<br/>White smiles and colorful pieces of fabric dancing around them when they walked.<br/>Maybe the fabric had been silk?</p>
<p>Not all of them have had it so easy with their packing, some still trying to bring far too much in their packs.<br/>Kain even have time for another feeding, while the argue and repack, watching the wagon getting fuller and fuller.<br/>But finally, they give in and their group is ready to walk.  <br/>They are bringing their horses, because they can’t just leave them here, but with the heat and the way the sand is hard to walk of for horses, the only weight the two of them can carry is their own food and water. <br/>They only hope they will survive, the horses not used to neither the heat nor walking in the sand but leaving them behind will certainly kill them. </p>
<p>The first few hours walking in the sand goes slow.<br/>Finding the rhythm, both as a group and for themselves takes some time.<br/>Walking on sand feels nothing like walking on any other soil he had walked on.<br/>The closest must have been back in Gothr, when he and his friends ran around in the new snow, making it dance around them.<br/>But this is nothing like those memories.<br/>They walk up and down dune after dune, sweating and cursing.<br/>And laughing when someone falls over, and when Rhys himself lost his footing at the top of a dune, ending up falling backwards and tumbling around all the way back down, howling and cackling for a long time.<br/>Even if his body aches in places Kain didn’t know he had, the first day isn’t so bad as he had dreaded.<br/>As the sun sets, the temperature drops drastically.<br/>Kain goes from feeling like a boiling sausage to a freezing popsicle in the time it takes him to change and feed Cy.<br/>At least that’s what he whines to Brin.<br/>The alpha just smirks at him and finds Kain’s thick jacket.</p>
<p>Cy have coped with the day better than Kain had feared, but his temperature is a little high, and his breathing a little fast.<br/>Kain had let him feed whenever he wanted all day, not caring that he had to have his shirt partly open.<br/>He just adjusted the sling so that Cy just had to turn his head before latching on.<br/>But using silk in the desert was not a good idea, the fabric stuck to his skin when he sweated.<br/>Which is always, so that when they had set up camp close to a small cluster of bushes, he has to peal his clothes of before putting on his only other change.<br/>Brin looks heartbroken when he sees Kain’s skin, and even worse when he sees how flushed Cy’s skin is, but the omega manages to calm him down by asking him to get them food.<br/>Pleased to provide, the man searches their packs.<br/>It’s mostly some dried meat and some cold rice, making a fire not an easy task with no wood close by.<br/>The cluster of bushes that had magically appeared in the horizon had been a big relief, but not as the means to make warm food.<br/>With the sun frying them from above, and the sand burning their skin if it touches it, shelter was the major topic through the afternoon.<br/>So, with the bushes as something to tie the tarps to, and some rods buried in the front, they make a makeshift shelter for them all.<br/>It’s not big, and they all have to share, but they have a soft ground to lay down on and a roof over their head, which is more that they had hoped for.<br/>With the temperature sinking so drastically, the added heat with all of them sleeping so close was welcomed too.<br/>Brin and Kain slept with Cy between them, curling around the little boy protectively.</p>
<p>When a noise wakes him the next morning, it takes a few seconds before he realizes that it’s Cy making said noise.<br/>He isn’t crying, but his face is red, and he’s waving his arms and legs around showing that not everything’s okay.<br/>Checking the baby with shaking hands, Kain finds the baby have a slightly swollen stomach, fast heartrate and a little high temperature.<br/>That could be several things, but the most logical thing is a gassy stomach that makes him cry, which makes his heart beat faster, and his temperature rise.<br/>But he will be checking the baby even more often today, that’s for sure.<br/>At least his skin looks better, and his appetite’s normal, so Kain hopes he will be okay throughout the day.<br/>He refuses to let fear take over, forcing his doubt about Cy surviving the desert out of his mind.<br/>They have to believe. <br/>When it’s time to start walking again, he did as yesterday, and adjusts the (old) sling so his breast is accessible for Cy all day.<br/>The baby has just his diaper on, and Kain makes sure to have a layer of fabric between them, to reduce their skin to skin contact since that would irritate it more.  <br/>He loves his new silk clothes, but out in this heat the regular cotton shirt is better.<br/>Throughout the day, he checks that Cy is doing okay, making sure his diaper is clean, his breathing not too fast and his temperature as normal as possible.<br/>It’s impossible to prevent the baby from getting warmer than normal, but he does his best to keep it as low as he can.</p>
<p>He spends so much time worrying for his baby, that he almost forgets that he is pregnant himself. <br/>But as the day goes by, his body reminds him of it, loudly.<br/>After walking through the sand for two days now, Kain feels drained.<br/>Sore feet and sunburned skin are nothing compared to the way his pelvis is screaming.<br/>His stomach is getting bigger for each day, the heavy bump makes his lower back aching, and force his hips further apart.<br/>At least it feels like that.<br/>In the back of his mind, a voice reminds him that he is just halfway there, and that the bump will double in size and weight. <br/>His tiny little boy feels heavy, and it feels like Cy is pushing his bump lower, even if he knows that isn’t possible.</p>
<p>The first one to notice the light shining at them from their left, is Melody.<br/>Even after all this time, bright light could hurts her eyes, a side effect of her drug abuse.<br/>Soon everybody stares at the light, wondering what it could be, and in the end a couple of the scouts runs over to see.<br/>Maybe it’s someone in dire need, or maybe it’s the sun reflecting of some water, or…<br/>Kain lets them talk around him, choosing to sit down and rest in stead.<br/>Shouting from the scouts, telling them to come with huge motions with their arms, quiets everybody.<br/>It isn’t far away, after only half an hour they all stands around something big and shiny, partly buried in the sand.<br/>The light they had seen, was the sun reflecting of it.<br/>Unfortunately, it’s not the cool water they had fantasied about, but rather some sort of humanmade structure radiating heat.<br/>Walking around it, it becomes obvious why the scouts had called them over.<br/>The structure is hollow, with a huge opening in the side, and a big piece pointing out over the opening, shadowing for the sun.<br/>With a couple of tarps and some rope, they make the shadow lager, and at the same time shields them from the wind.<br/>It’s the perfect campsite.<br/>At least out here, with no trees to be seen.<br/>Or the miracle bushes from last night.</p>
<p>Brin pulls out their sleeping pads and use their back packs as a backrest, before helping Kain sitting down on it.<br/>It feels heavenly to be out of the sun, and even better to be off his feet.<br/>Brin takes Cy, careful to keep him out of the sun, letting him out of his sling so he can move more freely.<br/>His skin looks better than it had the night before, and as the shade cools him down a little, he begins to look around and wave a little with his arms and legs.<br/>It makes Kain’s heart beat a little harder, seeing that their tiny boy is okay for now.<br/>Closing his eyes, he leans back a little more, resting his head on the top of their packs.<br/>Maybe he could sleep, just a little, like this?<br/>Shaking his head, he opens his eyes again, and looks at the weird thing now looming over them, and wonders what it could be.<br/>Or, more like what it had been.<br/>It’s obviously human made, it reminds him a little of the bathroom in Vito, even if he can’t put his finger on why.       </p>
<p>After everybody have had time to cool down a little, one group starts to clear out some of the sand from inside the structure, making a flat surface to lay down their sleeping pads on.<br/>Another group work on putting up more tarps, preparing to close the opening almost all the way as soon as the sun sets.<br/>Kain stays where he is, in the shadow, watching over Cy and catching his own breath.<br/>It’s embarrassing how tired he gets all the time now, even if walking through the sand all day is hard, he should at least feel a little rested now.<br/>But no.<br/>His breath is still a little fast, and his stomach is hard and aching.<br/>It’s just Braxton contractions, he knows, even if it’s too early to have those.<br/>He better stays sitting here for some time, his baby is not allowed out for several more months!<br/>Cy is making some sounds, making it known that he wants milk, so Kain settles down with his boy at his breast.<br/>He thinks the little one has been drinking better today then yesterday, but it’s not easy to know for sure since one of his nipples is almost constantly in his mouth while they walk.<br/>After filling his stomach, and then filling his diaper, Cy falls asleep.<br/>It’s not long before the sun is setting, and the temperature is falling.<br/>He stuffs a blanket around the boy sleeping between his legs and looks around.</p>
<p>Narin is fighting with his pack, and Rhys are looking longingly at him.<br/>Even after the soft moment Kain had seen between their leader and Narin, the two continues to dance around each other.<br/>The omega is hot and cold, some nights he clings to the alpha sitting around the fire, other days he curls in on himself turning his back to Rhys.<br/>It’s obvious he hates his missing arm.<br/>Stubbornly carrying his own pack all day, hanging over his god shoulder, leaving him with a sore shoulder and in pain.<br/>Putting his bowl with food on his lap instead of holding it in one hand.<br/>And if anybody tries to steady him when he stumbles, he grumbles the rest of the day.     <br/>But their leader never gives up.<br/>Rhys spends hours each day walking beside the omega, talking quietly or, if it’s a bad day for Narin, stays quiet with him.<br/>Late at night, when Narin gives up on sleeping alone and shuffles over the where Rhys are, the alpha just lifts his blanket and holds him close.<br/>Kain knows how nice it is to sleep in the arms of his chosen alpha, even if he now has a small bundle sleeping between him and Brin.<br/>He has hopes for Rhys and Narin, he can see them end up as mates when the time is right.</p>
<p>He can admit that he misses sleeping in Brin’s arms, but with the reason being their little boy sleeping soundly between them, it’s okay.<br/>The lack of intimacy is kind of worse, the kissing and tasting and nipping and…<br/>-and now he has a hard on.<br/>Great.<br/>It’s not like they would have sex, when everybody is sleeping close together, and it’s not for forever, but he still misses it.<br/>He must have been lost in his daydreams, because suddenly someone looms over him.<br/>Smiling, he looks up at Brin, giving him a smile.<br/>The giant gives him a smirk and a quick kiss.<br/>He almost moans from the shiver running down his spine, from that single kiss alone.<br/>Fuck.<br/>His dick is still hard and shows no signs of going down.<br/>In fact, precum is making a small patch on the front of his pants, and he can feel slick between his buttocks.<br/>He feels his ears going pink, but there is nothing he can do, with Brin grinning at him like that he only gets more turned on.<br/>Lifting their boy up and placing him safely to his left side, Brin manhandles him so that the alpha is sitting down, and the omega sitting in his lap facing him.<br/>Warm hands grab his hips carefully, just holding him close.<br/>Kain leans his head on the chest in front of him, trying to calm himself down.<br/>Around them, people are going about doing their normal stuff, while Kain is almost vibration out of his own skin.<br/>When he shivers, Brin pulls out his jacket and drapes it over Kain’s back.<br/>Brin’s jacket is way to big for Kain, so he’s almost drowning in it, leaving only his head and legs visible.<br/>The sun is almost all gone now, and it’s getting dark.<br/>It’s quite peaceful, sitting in Brin’s lap, with Cy sleeping safely beside them, and the normal sounds of the rest of their group around them.<br/>Taking a deep breath, Kain close his eyes and relax.</p>
<p>One of Brin’s hands starts caressing his hip, immediately igniting the fire inside Kain again.<br/>Fingers slowly moves up his thigh in slow circles, and when Kain glares at Brin he just gets a raised eyebrow and a big grin back, so he gives up.<br/>Letting his head fall back to the chest in front of him, he feels the fingers coming closer and closer to his weeping dick.<br/>He takes a gasping breath in when Brin presses his hand to the hard flesh, and then bites his lip to stop himself from making a whine when the pressure is gone again.<br/>Brin is rumbling in laughter, but at the same time it’s obvious that his pants is getting tight too.<br/>The alpha continues to tease him, caressing his inner thigh and then giving him the pressure, he so desperately wants.<br/>Before he knows it, his pants are opened, and a hand grabs him firmly.<br/>After looking down to make sure Cy is okay, Kain gives up and hides his face in Brin’s chest.<br/>Carefully, to not to make the movements easy to see, Brin starts jacking him of.<br/>The hand working his dick over, and the sounds of their group all around them, makes him slick his pants like he’s in heat.<br/>That will not be comfortable tomorrow.<br/>But right now, the only thing Kain cares about, is the firm hand around him, twisting around his head, smearing of the precum down his shaft.<br/>He pants into the rumbling chest in front of him, forcing himself to sit still, but it’s hard.<br/>His head is swimming and lightning runs up and down his spine, and before he knows it, everything explodes.<br/>Coming back to himself, he carefully opens one eye and looks around, hoping that nobody saw.<br/>Brin is laughing again, drying his hand with a cloth and holding him closer.<br/>Kain feels himself slowly calm down, breathing normal and muscles relaxing.<br/>Even if this was embarrassed and nothing he wants to repeat, he really needed it.<br/>He has been running on fear for their little boy since they first saw the desert, coupled with the strain he puts his pregnant body through, and needed an outlet.<br/>It’s not like it’s the first time anybody have had sex close to the rest of the group, Brin and he have been having a lot of sex in fact, and they’re not the only ones.<br/>But like this, when people wander around them, preparing food and laying out their sleeping pads, it feels almost wrong.<br/>Or, it should have felt wrong.<br/>It is more in the open, sitting there a little to the side, but still among the rest.<br/>Well.<br/>It’s nothing he can do about it now, and Cy is making noises again, so he will just continue his evening like nothing have happened.<br/>Right.<br/>Maybe start with tucking in his dick and closing his pants, before moving off Brin’s lap.<br/>He stretches himself, feeling his body and mind calm down.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0023"><h2>23. Chapter 23</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>23.</p>
<p>After checking over Cy and giving him the last of the tea Kain had made for him, he lay the boy to his breast.<br/>Hopefully, they would reach the end of the desert tomorrow, so he can make more.<br/>Hopefully, just one more day being scared for Cy and fighting his own beaten down body.<br/>After a quick dinner, they curl together on their sleeping pad, with their son between them, and Kain falls asleep fast.<br/>Hopefully, this is the last night out in this freezing or boiling desert.</p>
<p>When Kain wakes up the next day, Cy isn’t the one waking him up.<br/>That’s the first time since their body was born, and he immediately panics.<br/>Shakingly, he moves the blanket covering Cy a little to see him better, but not even the sight of the chest moving up and down calms him.<br/>Because it’s clear that the boy is fighting, taking fast and shallow breaths.<br/>His skin is clammy and pale, but his lips have a more normal color.<br/>That last thing gives him a little hope, at least the body gets enough oxygen for the moment.<br/>But that can rapidly change, he needs to help his boy right now! <br/>Kain isn’t even aware that he is speaking out loud, or almost shouting really, before he raises his eyes to call for help.<br/>Milo is busy heating water, Rhys is shaking Brin to get him out from his frozen state, and Sara is opening Kain’s herbal bag for him.<br/>As he undresses the boy, he tells Sara which herbs he needs, and then a cup of hot water is but down beside them.<br/>Hurriedly, he mixes the special tea, praying that it’s dosed right and that it will cool down fast.<br/>The last is helped with setting the cup inside a bowl with cool water, that Milo delivers.<br/>Kain gives the cook a small smile, before a high-pitched whine comes from Cy for a few seconds before it abruptly stops.<br/>The little boy doesn’t breathe anymore, his heart has stopped, and Kain doesn’t have time to freak out now!<br/>Grabbing small legs, he lifts the boy up with his head down, and gives him a firm clap on his back.<br/>Nothing happens, so he does it again.<br/>And again.<br/>Then, they see Cy’s muscles tighten, before he draws a small breath.<br/>And another.<br/>Kain too takes a breath, feeling dizzy after holding it for so long.<br/>The boy is breathing regularly now, but still too fast and shallow.<br/>Holding his son on his arm, the way he would normally do when he gives him his tea, Kain proceed to do just that.<br/>It’s more of a struggle to get Cy to swallow it, but Kain refuses to give up, and coach it into him.<br/>Then it’s not a lot to do but waiting to see if the tea will work.<br/>Kain caresses a tiny cheek, strokes a small back, and gently massage the boy’s hands.<br/>All the time whispering lovingly and calmly- ish to his son.<br/>It takes several awfully long minutes, but gradually the breaths become deeper and slower.<br/>Cy is still pale and clammy, but he grabs on to one of Kain’s fingers and opens his eyes.</p>
<p>All around them, Kain hears tears and sniffling while their friends start their day as quiet as possible.<br/>Brin is finally able to move, and grabs Cy’s other hand with a shaky hand.<br/>The trio stay the way they are for a long time.<br/>It’s the heat inside their shelter that forces them to react, Brin carefully taking their son into his arms so Kain can get up.<br/>Cy is quiet, doesn’t move his limbs a lot, but is looking deep into his father’s eyes.<br/>Kain drinks some water and finds a place in the shadow outside, before he tries to breastfeed the boy.<br/>And even if he doesn’t drink a lot, it’s more than nothing and enough to calm Kain down a little more.<br/>Letting the boy sleep on a soft blanket between his legs, he feels tears run down his cheeks.<br/>That was way too close.</p>
<p>Rhys comes over and asks if they should stay here for another day, giving the baby a day to rest, but since the heat is one of the major problems, they decide to walk on.         <br/>If what they know about this route is correct, they should reach the end of the desert before sundown, which would be the best for them all.<br/>All through the day, someone kept close to Brin and Kain, showing their support and making sure the parents remember to drink water and eat something.<br/>Except during feeding, Brin is carrying Cy today, not being able to let him out of his arms.<br/>Which is okay for Brin, his arms and legs trembling after what happened.</p>
<p>They doo reach the end of the desert that night.<br/>It’s already dark when they set camp, but the ground is finally hard, and the air feels more humid.<br/>And when Kain wakes up the next morning, close to a small pond, the heat doesn’t feel as overpowering.<br/>Cy is still too quiet and slow in his movements, but his breathing is better.<br/>Kain doesn’t think he have ever felt this tired.<br/>His bones are aching, his skin too tight, his eyelids heavy and dry, and he thinks he could drink his own weight in water and still feel thirsty.<br/>Luckily for him, the water in the pond is both cool and fresh, letting everybody fill their water bags and drink their fill.</p>
<p>They stay at this camp for an extra day, everybody needing the rest.<br/>Bodies and clothes are washed, and Milo is making a stew for dinner.<br/>It feels almost like a party.<br/>Kain spends most of the day sleeping.<br/>He eats breakfast, takes a swim, and feeds Cy, but the rest of the time he just sleeps.<br/>Brin is watching over their son, barely taking his eyes of the boy, so Kain lets himself rest.     <br/>Cy is also sleeping a lot, but for each time he eats, he manages a little more milk before falling asleep again.<br/>That makes a little easier to breath for Kain, but there is a long way until Cy gets back to how he was before the desert.</p>
<p>The scenery changes rapidly while they walk the next day.<br/>First, they climb a small hill up to a plateau filled with rocks and small bushes, which they then spend a few hours crossing over, before the path goes down again.<br/>And before they set camp for the night, they are in a sparse forest.  <br/>The trees give a nice cover from the sun, and at night it calms the wind making the camp sheltered.<br/>Throughout the day, Cy have been more and more lively, staying awake in his sling on Brin’s chest.<br/>Kain’s body refuses to carry the little boy all day, it’s like the journey over the desert have sucked all his energy out of him.<br/>As soon as the camp is set, he curls up around Cy in their little shelter, only rising again to eat and empty his bladder.<br/>He feels a little better when Cy wakes him up the next morning, and with the boy’s breath being back to what’s normal for him, Kain feels optimistic.<br/>The trees get bigger and the forest denser, before they break the tree line late afternoon.<br/>Fields upon fields with all kind of vegetables fills their view.<br/>And far away, so far that it’s barely a dot at the end of the fields, lays what must be Baltran.<br/>They made it.</p>
<p>Since the road ahead of them are filled with cropland, the set camp right there at the tree line.   <br/>Sitting by the firepit that night, Kain takes his time to look around to hie fellow travelers.<br/>Rhys and Narin is sitting close to each other, lost in their own conversation.<br/>Some of the other mercenaries are sending a bottle of something strong around, telling jokes and laughing.<br/>Melody is sitting with her sister and one or two other women, and she looks better.<br/>Calmer and even smiling now and then.<br/>The group of omegas from Aram are also having a blast, laughing and giggling loud and free.<br/>Alek sits with his friends, but often looks over at Faray and Jak with poorly hidden want and longing.<br/>Kain doesn’t think the mated pair notices the looks, weary even after all the time that have gone since he caught them.<br/>But at the same time, he have seen the both of them stealing glances at the alpha now and then, admiration and interesse in their eyes.  <br/>That the man has the habit of walking around in the dark if he can’t find the pair around the campfire, doesn’t help his case.<br/>He wonders if the alpha realizes that they still are afraid, and why.<br/>Why does all alphas have to be so dense when it comes to interacting with omegas?<br/>But he doesn’t want to interfere, this is something the trio have to figure out themselves.<br/>They are all grown-ups after all.<br/>And he has been in the middle of too much drama during this travel, either as the one making it, or the one trying to fix it.<br/>Now, with a small fragile baby in his arms and a bump growing steadily, he has to let people fix their problems themselves.</p>
<p>The next day, it’s Jak that comes up to him.<br/>Stuttering, he asks if Kain have some heat suppressant, his heat is coming up and he had totally forgotten it all.<br/>Kain doesn’t have any suppressants, so he tells the omega that they would just have to take one of the horses and hide during the heat, and them catch up to them afterwards.<br/>Like the other times the omegas have forgotten their biology…<br/>Jak’s face falls.<br/>The biggest problem in an omega couple, is the lack of a knot.<br/>After presenting as omega, Faray was branded, given some toys and locked inside his room by his mother.<br/>Since the boys suspected that Jak too was an omega, they were ready one year later when it was his turn.<br/>Not wanting Jak to be branded and sent of to the brothel, Faray hid the other somewhere nobody could smell him, and lent him his toys.<br/>He then bought some illegal suppressants, making sure the younger never had a heat again.<br/>But now, Jak would have his second heat, on the road, and without a toy.<br/>No matter what Faray could do, he couldn’t knot his mate. <br/>Great.<br/>Kain asks him if Faray would be okay with them getting help from an alpha during their heats, the young man whispering something about always wanting an alpha between them all the time…</p>
<p>With a heaving sight, he looks around for Alek. <br/>It’s time that alpha puts on his grown-up pants and talks to the ones he loves!<br/>After this, he will let people fix their problems themselves.</p>
<p>When the group takes a rest under some old trees with branches stretching against the neighbor’s branches, like they are trying to hold hands.<br/>Sitting under them, gives Kain a feeling of sitting under lush green clouds.<br/>Resting his back against a trunk, he lays Cy at his breast and closes his eyes, just breathing.<br/>When the boy is done, and curiously looking around from his blanket between Kain’s leg, the omega catch Alek’s eyes and motions him over.<br/>The alpha sits down to his right, head hanging low.<br/>“it’s about the omegas, isn’t it?”<br/>Kain have to smile.<br/>“I know, I know, I should let them be, but I just can’t.<br/>The strong shoulders and warm eyes of Faray makes my brain turn to mush, and Jak’s blending smile make my heart stop!<br/>I don’t know what to do…”<br/>With his head still hanging low, the alpha doesn’t see the surprised face Kain makes.<br/>He knew the alpha had some feelings for the duo, but he hadn’t expected the man to say it out loud like that, without Kain needing to say anything.<br/>“I have to admit that all I want to doo is go over there and beg for a change to court them.   <br/>To show them that I’m not a creep following then into the forest to… you now…”<br/>The alpha is blushing, waving a hand around like that would explain what he means without him saying it.<br/>Kain of course know what he means, but just calmly looks at him.<br/>“I mean, when I first saw them, I was elated, but not because I wanted to watch.<br/>That night when the omegas approached us wanting to run away, my eyes immediately zeroed in on Jak, and I knew right away.<br/>But then Faray walked up to him, and I knew I was in trouble…”<br/>Alek are ones again looking down to the ground.<br/>“but then, when I realized that the two of then where together, a new hope blossomed.<br/>It’s stupid, I know, just because they are two omegas doesn’t mean that they are looking for an alpha to make them whole or something… <br/>I just…<br/>I can’t stop thinking about them, and every time they disappear from the camp in the evenings, I gets scared someone will hurt them, and I find myself walking after them.<br/>God, I really am a creep!”<br/>The man is shaking his head now, but his eyes are searching for said omegas, likely to make sure they are there and safe.<br/>“no, I can’t continue like this, even if they don’t want me, I at least have to try to explain myself and tell them I’m sorry.<br/>Yeah...<br/>I’ll do that right now, before I chicken out.<br/>Thanks for the talk, Kain!”<br/>And before Kain can open his mouth to say something, anything, the alpha is gone.<br/>Well.<br/>Job well done.<br/>If every problem would be that easy to fix.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Looking over to where he had seen the omegas sitting before, he can see Alek is talking with them.<br/>And even if the omegas still look insecure, they listen at what the alpha is saying.<br/>Jak has a sweet little blush over his cheeks, and Faray are giving the alpha a small smile.<br/>At least, they appear to not be as scared of him anymore, which is a great start Kain thinks.</p>
<p>Soon after, their group starts walking again, hoping to reach the city before sundown.<br/>The thought of sleeping in a bed are so alluring, Kain forgets all about the pain and the fatigue.<br/>It looks like all of them have gotten a burst of energy, the last stretch of their journey in front of them. <br/>But as the hours goes by, it’s clear that they will have to sleep on the ground for one more night.<br/>Even with the boost from seeing the city, it’s still too far away…<br/>The mood around the fire that night is joyous, bottles that someone had decide was important enough to carry through the desert sent around, filling the dark with laughter and singing.<br/>Alek is sitting with Jak and Faray, talking low.<br/>Faray’s shoulders looks more relaxed, and he’s leaning towards his mate in a way that Kain never has seen him dare to doo before.<br/>After neglecting his body’s signals for several hours, Kain finds himself falling asleep sitting up, so he bids the rest good night and takes himself and his son to their shelter.<br/>Tomorrow he would see for himself if Baltran really lives up to the dreams of his fellow travelers, and he really hopes it does.<br/>After traveling for close to a year, searching for a better life, he just hoped it would live up to their expectations.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>kudos?<br/>bookmarks?<br/>comments?</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0024"><h2>24. Chapter 24</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>There are only four more chapters left of part one of this story, and then the one shots I have written will be next!<br/>Part two of this series will come after those, but that part isn't done yet, so don't expect several chapters a week then!<br/>I have the main plot ready, and many small things, or scenes if you will, but they are not yet on papaer.<br/>or, my laptop..<br/>But I'm having problems with how to match them together, make the story flow and end up where I want.</p>
<p>So, if anybody is still reading this series when we come that far, maybe expect a chapter a week or something?</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>24.</p>
<p>Cy wakes him up the next day, making it clear that he wants food.<br/>
Smiling down at his son, he pulls him close to his chest and lets the boy feed, while he himself tries to shake of the last of his dream.<br/>
He doesn’t quite remember his dream, but it was filled with loud noises and smoke all around, making him dizzy and confused.<br/>
The feeling he is left with now, as he wakes up more and more, are some mix of dread and restlessness.<br/>
Like he has too hurry up somewhere, but at the same time not wanting to get there.<br/>
A hand on his cheek breaks him out of his thoughts, Brin giving him a warm smile before kissing him on the forehead.<br/>
Right.<br/>
It was just a dream.<br/>
After changing the diaper and dressing Cy, they eat their breakfast sitting by the fire, enjoying the morning sun.</p>
<p>Soon, their whole group are ready to walk the last bit, eager to see for themselves what the city will be like.<br/>
And as the morning goes over to midday, the buildings grow bigger and becomes easier to separate.<br/>
Some of the buildings are so tall, Kain can’t even imagine how they are built.<br/>
It’s a bit overwhelming.<br/>
Everybody has been walking fast since this morning, but now that they are so close, their pace slows down.<br/>
The one thing Kain notices when as they draw closer to Baltran city, is how dirty it seams.<br/>
Not at all what he had imagined it to be.<br/>
The next thing Kain notices, after entering the city itself, is all the noise.<br/>
He had expected the level of noise to be something like in Vito or Aram, with a lot of people living close together.<br/>
But on top of the sounds of people shouting and laughing, banging noises comes from what feel like dozens of blacksmiths and carpenters and lumberjacks all at ones.<br/>
There is even a rumbling kind of sound, coming closer and closer, before suddenly a strange wagon comes around the corner.<br/>
A wagon without any horse in front, but with a strange fireplace at the back, with smoke coming out from it.<br/>
Kain freeze, the wagon on top of the rest is too much for him.<br/>
It’s only the high pitch screams coming from Cy that wakes him up from his stupor, just in time to jump back so the wagon doesn’t hit him.</p>
<p>The smoke coming from the strange wagon make all of them cough, especially Cy.<br/>
Kain hurries to lift the boy out of his sling, steering his head towards his neck to help the little one to calm down.<br/>
Holding him close, as he hears his boy quiet down and breath easier, he looks after the wagon as it disappears around a corner.<br/>
This is not a great start.<br/>
In less that an hour in Baltran, Cy has already had a problem with his breathing.<br/>
Using the sling to partly cover the little boy, trying to keep all the smoke out of his face, he follows the rest of the group towards the city hall.<br/>
All newcomers to Baltran have to register themselves at the city hall, where they then will be given temporary housing, together with several pamphlets with information about their rights and their duties as a citizen of Baltran.<br/>
Their temporary housing turns out to be some small dirty rooms in a rundown house, but at least every room have a bed, which sounded better before Kain saw it.<br/>
But he still looks forward to sleep on that lumpy mattress tonight.</p>
<p>After putting their things in their room, a few of them goes out to look around in their neighborhood.<br/>
Brin and Kain is walking together with Rhys, Narin and a couple more of the mercenaries, wanting to buy some food.<br/>
The idea of eating food at a tavern or a pub feels strange, but even so, Kain looks forward to it.<br/>
After a few minutes, they enter a pub filled with laughter and music.<br/>
Finding a table and ordering some beer, - water for Kain, doesn’t take long, and soon they are sipping on their drinks.<br/>
Steaks and potatoes and sauce and peas, a normal Sunday dinner when he grew up, but it doesn’t taste as good as he remembers it did.<br/>
Not as good as Milo’s magic stew.<br/>
But even if it isn’t as good as his childhood memory, it’s still good, and it’s filling.<br/>
And served on plates, with cutlery, and something cold to drink on the side.</p>
<p>Cy sleeps through most of the time they sit there, but Kain ends up feeding him before they walk on.<br/>
Several people around them looks at that, if it’s because he’s feeding publicly or if it’s because he is obviously pregnant, he doesn’t know, or care for that matter.<br/>
His son is hungry, so he feed him.<br/>
And if anybody wants to complain about it, the alpha’s sitting with him just gives them a look.<br/>
Later, when they are back in their room, Brin gets hold of some warm water and a basin, giving Cy his first bath.<br/>
The little boy seems unsure at first, but soon waves his arms and legs with glee.<br/>
Clean and wrapped in a soft blanket, their tiny son sleeps trough the night.</p>
<p>After a few days, the original group of merchandisers meets to talk about their future.<br/>
Kain had read through the pamphlets and found out that the rumor that everybody gets their own piece of land sort of is true.<br/>
But you had to apply for it, which could take months before you got an answer at.<br/>
During that time, you would get temporary housing, but after the first two months you would have to pay rent.<br/>
Not that anybody could complain about that, two months free housing is kind of even better than a piece of land, at least if you’re not dreaming of being a farmer.<br/>
It gives you time to get a job, get a better place to live, and keep the number of homeless people in the city low.<br/>
Everybody could work here, no matter what your secondary gender is, but getting a decent job for a small omega with no experience is another thing.<br/>
Some of the omegas have gotten themselves jobs at different bars and restaurants, serving tables or dancing or as other kind of entertainers, that is not a solution for everybody.<br/>
The three sisters have made contact with the family friends that had promised them work at their shop and have already moved out of their temporary housing.<br/>
Faray and Jak have found a hotel that specialized in heats and is bringing Alek with them there.<br/>
Liza and her husband have applied for a plot of land, both working odd jobs but staying at their room.<br/>
Sol, surprisingly, got a job as a waiter, but the rest isn’t as lucky.<br/>
Getting a job are not difficult for the burly men from Taram, at the docks or at one of the many building sites around the city.<br/>
And even if their job guarding and taking care of the pilgrims is over now, none of then feel good with just leave everybody to fight for themselves.<br/>
It’s decided that they would help with finding jobs to those who need the help, and that in the meantime everybody would put a little of their payment in a pot to help those that needed it.<br/>
Baltran is a welcoming and merciful city, but there where no way anybody in their group would let anyone starve or having to sell their body for shelter.</p>
<p>Cy does not like the air here at all, so Kain is stuck at home while Brin works down at the dock, but his body is still tired from their travels so that is okay.<br/>
Now that they are staying in on place, and not walking all day, Kain gains weight rapidly.<br/>
He thought his bump was big, especially after Cy was born, but now his stomach gets bigger for each day.<br/>
If he walks for more than a few meters, his hips hurt and a hand pushes on his lower back in the hopes of releasing some of the tension there.<br/>
So, the first week, he stays mostly in their room, resting and playing with Cy.<br/>
The boy is more alert during the days now, at least when he is awake, following Kain’s fingers when the omega holds them up over his face, gurgling and waving his tiny arms and legs.<br/>
Now that he doesn’t spends all day cooped up in a sling, he enjoys the freedom to move, a lot.<br/>
But he still has some problems with his breathing from time to time, and he sleeps a lot, not that that isn’t normal for a newborn.</p>
<p>After a week, Kain thinks he will go stir crazy looking at the same four walls.<br/>
He has spent hours looking out the window, when Cy is sleeping and he can’t, but the view is getting boring too.<br/>
The only thing he still finds interesting, is a small workshop on the other side of the street, where an old man is tinkering around with all kinds of strange things.<br/>
The shop is in the building across from their room, and the man is often working with what looked like the same material as the thing they found in the desert.<br/>
It doesn’t look like the man have many customers, but it doesn’t looked like he cared either.<br/>
Kain itched to talk to him.<br/>
His curiosity is getting the best of him, so after eight days in Baltran, he brings Cy with him and ventures outside.<br/>
Covering the boy’s head with a piece of silk, he hurries over the street and inside the workshop.<br/>
Then he freezes.<br/>
Everywhere he looks, bits and pieces of strange materials, pieces of wood, screws and bolts and all kind of tools are placed on shelfs and tables.<br/>
Or hanging on the walls.<br/>
Or hanging from the roof.<br/>
Or laying on the floor…<br/>
Everywhere he looks, something shiny catch his eyes.<br/>
“can I help you?”<br/>
The old man says as he turns around.<br/>
He is an alpha, the first one Kain have met in Baltran, not that that says much.<br/>
Kain opens his mouth to say something, anything, when Cy starts coughing and wheezing.<br/>
The boy is panicking, so Kain had to stay calm in hopes that he could calm Cy down.<br/>
Screaming did not work well with coughing and fighting to get air into the lungs.<br/>
As he sees his boy getting pale and his lips blue, he curses himself and his curiosity.<br/>
Suddenly, his son is picked up from his arms and brought to a table close by.<br/>
Panicking, Kain follows to see what the man is doing to his boy.<br/>
A small bowl is placed over Cy’s face, covering his nose and mouth, and only the sound of his boy still fighting for his breath stops Kain from pulling the old man away.<br/>
What the hell is happening?<br/>
Cy isn’t coughing anymore, and Kain can’t breathe.<br/>
He yells at the man, what he doesn’t know, but as he lifts his eyes, he sees the small bowl have a tube in the middle that lead to a box making a rumbling sound.<br/>
“look at him… poor boy... this helped, didn’t it?”<br/>
The old man isn’t looking at Kain, all his focus is on Cy.<br/>
Cy, that doesn’t cough or scream anymore.<br/>
Cy, that doesn’t fight, his small body relaxed.<br/>
Kain doesn’t want to look at him, what if he doesn’t cough because he doesn’t breathe?<br/>
But the old man is smiling down at the little one, and without thought Kain looks too.<br/>
And Cy is fine.<br/>
His breathing is fine.<br/>
His skin color and lip color are fine.<br/>
Gaping, he looks at the old man.<br/>
“how?”</p>
<p>Carefully, the now sleeping baby is put back in his arms, a hand takes his and brings it to the bowl, silently telling him to hold it in place.<br/>
“I don’t know, I mean… my gut told me to build a small breather last month, and I always listen to my gut.”<br/>
That doesn’t really tell Kain anything, but the man turned his back to them and walked further inside the room.<br/>
“My gut has saved me many times, and other’s too, so when it told me that there where going to be a need for a breather, a breather I build.”<br/>
The man must be crazy.<br/>
But a crazy man saving his son’s life.<br/>
“what is a breather?”<br/>
Kain kind of figured out that it was the thing helping Cy breath, both because of the name, and that it had literally saved Cy’s life.<br/>
He felt dizzy all the sudden, he almost lost his son, - again!<br/>
Sitting down on a stool close by, he concentrates on breathing slow and deep.<br/>
“it helps people breathing, of course!”<br/>
The man comes walking back, something else in his hands, looking around for whatever.<br/>
Cy is making a sound in his sleep, almost like a whine, making both of them look at him.<br/>
“O! yeah... you can take the mask away now; he doesn’t need it anymore.<br/>
Here, I’ll show you how to use it, for the next time.”<br/>
“the next time?<br/>
Kain is still a little dizzy, and have a hard time understanding what goes on around him.<br/>
“yes, the next time the boy has an attack, he’s so small I expect him to get them for quite some time.<br/>
Especially here in this hellhole.<br/>
Baltran is great for many things, but not for small babies with poor lungs.<br/>
Or any person with poor lungs, I guess…”<br/>
Kain is still holding the bowl, or mask, in front of Cy, so the man has to pull it away before turning the machine of.<br/>
“listen.<br/>
Take your boy back to your room, and when your alpha comes back tonight, come back here and I will explain it all.<br/>
Okay?<br/>
And if this happens again before that, just hurry here, and I’ll help you with the breather.<br/>
You can take it home tonight.”<br/>
With that, the man ones again turn away and walk deeper into his shop.<br/>
Kain decides to do as told, if not for any other reason that it meant he didn’t have to make any decisions himself.<br/>
Right now, his brain is turned into mosh, and both he and his boy need to rest.  </p>
<p>Its dark when Brin gets back, after working a double shift down at the dock.<br/>
After a simple meal together, Kain leaves his two favorite boys cuddling together, and crosses the street to get some answers.<br/>
Hopefully.<br/>
The old man is tinkering away on something, and Kain finds himself wanting to know what.<br/>
He doesn’t understand his own fascination, his wants or more need to know everything that is to know about this shop.<br/>
But back to task.<br/>
“good! You’re back!”<br/>
Kain smiles at the man, wary, but needing answers.<br/>
“the breather is one of my gadgets, I ones had a neighbor with lungs so bad that his coughing kept me awake in the nights, so I had to do something.<br/>
And since throwing him out on the street, or right out killing the man is frown upon, I decided to make something to help him.<br/>
You see, making things is my thing, so that was what I had to do.<br/>
I know that when your airways get narrow, if it’s because you smoke a lot like my neighbor or have poor lungs for other reason, your body doesn’t get enough air.<br/>
So, with using parts from an old hoover, turning the flow the other way and ad a huminator, I made the breather.<br/>
It sucks in the air in the room, cleans it from smoke and other shit, before blowing trough the huminator, which makes the air humid obviously.<br/>
After that, it goes through the hose, down to the mask, and is pushed into the airways.<br/>
The main problem with bad lungs is getting enough air into the body, so pushing it in obviously helps with that.<br/>
Adding the water helps cleaning out the nasty stuff and also cools down the swelling inside the airways.<br/>
To make it work all you have to do is fill this tube here with water and twist this lever around as far as it goes, and when needed you just release the lever.<br/>
So, now you know how it works, here you have it.”</p>
<p>The man holds out the machine to him, but his brain is turned to mosh again with all the new information.<br/>
Sitting down at the same stool as earlier that day, he automatically grabs the Breather when it’s given to him.<br/>
“I can’t afford this ting, we just got here!”<br/>
Is the first thing out of Kain’s mouth.<br/>
“bullocks.<br/>
You don’t need to pay me, my guts told me to make it, obviously for your child, so it’s his.”<br/>
Kain can’t believe this strange man.<br/>
Neither can he take this machine for free, the man has worked long and hard to make it probably, and it’s really lifesaving and important.<br/>
O good.<br/>
Lifesaving.<br/>
Cy really needs this breather, that was clear after this morning, and the man had said that he would need it for months.<br/>
Probably until he gets older and his lungs stronger.<br/>
He can’t pay for it, but his boy needs it.<br/>
“I refuse to take if for free, but maybe I can work for it?<br/>
Clean, or organize your stuff, or…”<br/>
Looking around, it’s clear that those things isn’t important to the man, but what else can he offer?<br/>
There is so many things around them, some shiny, some small, and some big.<br/>
It’s fascinating, and Kain would love to learn more about what the man makes here.<br/>
“fine, then that’s a deal.<br/>
You come here every morning, with the boy and the breather, and I will teach you everything I can about gadget-making.”<br/>
Blinking, Kain realize that he had said that out loud.<br/>
When he tries to protest, that spending his days learning from the man wasn’t paying for the breather but setting him in even more debt, the man just shakes his head.<br/>
After discussing it for almost an hour, Kain gives up.<br/>
He is so tired he almost falls asleep arguing, and he really really wants to learn so…<br/>
The nest morning, he carries the breather, Cy’s basin and the boy himself over the street, eager to have something to do.<br/>
And that is the start of a very unexpecting friendship, where Kain and Cy spends hours each day at Eli’s shop.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0025"><h2>25. Chapter 25</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>25.</p>
<p>They had been in Baltran for three weeks, when Brin came home early one day.<br/>He just showed up at the shop, newly cleaned and with a closed basked hanging from his shoulder.<br/>Eli just gave them a smile and sent them on their way.<br/>They left Cy’s basin in the shop, Kain carrying the boy in his sling and Brin taking the breather over his other shoulder.<br/>After Kain almost dropped it for the second time in two days, Eli had made a strap on it so they could carry it over their shoulder, like a bag.<br/>Brin refused to tell him where they were going, just smiled at him, and signaled Kain to follow him.<br/>They walked down streets and alleys Kain had never been in or seen, but after a while it got obvious that they were walking out of the city center.<br/>After walking down a dark ally, the sun suddenly blinded him for a minute.<br/>When he could see again, he saw that they where in a small park, almost like a big garden.<br/>Dazed, he followed the alpha over to a large tree, where the man laid out a big blanket in the shadow.<br/>He reached for Cy, sat down on one side and put the curious boy beside him.<br/>After nodding for Kain to sit down on the other side of Cy, he opened the basket and pulled out several small boxes smelling wonderful.<br/>Food.<br/>Brin had taken him out for a late lunch at the park?<br/>It was not anything they had done before, or anything Kain had thought about doing, but it was nice.<br/>Really nice, Kain thought as Brin gave him a glass of lemonade.</p>
<p>Little Cy was gurgling happily between them, moving his head and taking in everything around them.<br/>With the breather taking away some of the fear for the boy’s lungs, Kain had brought him several places when he himself needed to be there, but this was the first time since they came to Baltran that Cy could see, smell and feel the nature around them.<br/>And even if Kain loved spending his days learning from Eli, he had to admit that the city was not the place for their little family.<br/>Puling his eyes from the little one, he looked at Brin and gave the man a smile matching the one on the big alpha’s face.<br/>Leaning in for a quick kiss, he took the offered plate filled with food.<br/>Fresh vegetables, sweet buns and smoked fish, all things he had missed during their journey.<br/>The last item was also so expensive that they rarely indulged themselves with it, which made this picnic even more out of the ordinary.<br/>Even with Brin working doble shifts at the dock, money was sparse, and the tried to save as much as possible for their future.<br/>They hadn’t quite decided what they wanted that future to be, but they knew it wasn’t staying in Baltran city.<br/>Not to think about all the things needed for two small children!<br/>Raising a brow, Kain looked over to Brin again, and his mouth dropped.<br/>Sitting on one knee, the man held out a small expensive looking box, a silent question on his face.</p>
<p>Carefully setting down his plate, Kain threw his arms around the other man’s neck and laughed.<br/>They had decided that they would get engaged here in Baltran, those first uncertain days after Cy was born, but that had not crossed his mind since then.<br/>And here Brin was, offering him a small box hopefully containing a beautiful ring.<br/>Opening the box, he saw not one, but two beautiful rings.<br/>A wide band made of what he now knew was aluminum, with a thing band in the middle made of something dark gray, almost black.<br/>It almost looked like coal, contrasting beautifully with the shiny aluminum.<br/>On the inside, the sign for “mine” and “yours” was engraved, making them perfect.<br/>Perfectly them.<br/>After kissing Brin senselessly, he tries to put the ring on, but his fingers are too swollen, so it doesn’t fit...<br/>Stupid pregnancy giving him swollen fingers!<br/>A thin leather strip dangles in front of his eyes, making him look up at Brin.<br/>The alpha has already tread his own ring on another string of leather and are knotting it around his neck.<br/>Smiling with wet eyes, loving how thoughtful his alpha is, he copies him and soon feels his ring against his upper chest.</p>
<p>They look into each others’ eyes forever, or until Cy makes a happy sound.<br/>When Kain lower his eyes, he sees the boy laugh and wave his arms and legs widely.<br/>Like he knew what happened between his fathers.<br/>Laughing back, he picks the boy up, up over his head while turning around and around, making his laugh and scream in joy.<br/>After they all calmed down a little, they enjoyed the food and the sun and the wind dancing in the trees.<br/>Spending the rest of the afternoon leisurely together, not going home before the sun starts to set.<br/>And after their little boy falls asleep, he shows his appreciation with his hands and his mouth, making his alpha cum three times before they fall asleep.</p>
<p>There’s a tired man stumbling out of the building together with the rest of the alohas working at the dock.<br/>Kain feels yesterday in his body too, but still smiles like a lunatic entering the shop.<br/>Eli takes a look at him and shakes his head.<br/>“I don’t want to know, but congratulation I guess.”<br/>The smile he gets from the man shows that he really is happy for them.<br/>Kain loves his days spent with Eli.<br/>He learns so much, and for everything he learns, he just wants to learn more and more.<br/>The strange wagon that scared him that first they in Baltran doesn’t scare him anymore, the fascinate him.<br/>He learned that the smoke coming out of in the back of the wagon in fact is steam, boiling water pushed through tubes is what makes to wheels turning around.<br/>It still is a fire that boils the water, a tiny closed firepit sitting close to the ground below what Eli calls the engine.<br/>The engine, or in some cases motor, is the main component in most of Eli’s gadgets.<br/>Like the breather, most of the smaller ones is driven by twisting a lever around until it stops, and the let it go.<br/>The lever will then turn around the other way, making the gadget work.<br/>Some of the gadgets with these levers, like the breather, have a small strap that holds the lever still until you need it.<br/>Then you just release the lever, saving the time it takes to twist the lever.<br/>When Cy starts coughing, not having to twist the lever before being able to help the boy makes a big difference.<br/>As the boy grows older, his lungs need the help less and less help, but they still bring the breather wherever they go.<br/>Not that they go out a lot, most days Brin works doble shifts, and Kain looses time at the shop.</p>
<p>The fascination in the wagon persist, making Kain think of ways to improve the regular wagons like the ones they used on their journey here.<br/>He remembers the times when the wagon got stuck in roots or rocks, and how heavy it was to maneuver without the horse.<br/>It has to be possible to make a better one.<br/>Making the wagon smaller would make it easier to travel through forests and valleys and other narrow places.<br/>Making it lighter, meant the horse could hold a higher speed, and it would be easier to maneuver by manpower.  <br/>If he made a storage room in the bottom of the wagon for the food and other heavy cargo, leaving space for sitting places on top.<br/>That would lessen the chance of the wagon fall over in sharp turns or down narrow slopes.<br/>Which would make the journey safer, a thought that made Kain shiver.<br/>He dreamed of a scared horse and a wagon falling down a slope, baby screams suddenly going quiet.</p>
<p>The nest morning, he brought up his thoughts with Eli, the man enthusiastically telling him to continue with it.<br/>Going as far as to clear the big table at the back, puling out some huge sheets of paper, joining Kain in the project.<br/>The rest of the week, they spent all day, discussing possibilities and drawing both what the new parts would look like.<br/>Kain was so enthusiastic about it all, spending all day working with Eli, the evenings babbling about it to Brin, and the nights dreaming about it.<br/>After a couple of weeks, they had the drawings of the new wagon drawn, and was ready to start building it.<br/>The only problem was that neither Eli nor Kain knew woodwork.<br/>All of the gadgets Eli made was made of different kinds of metals and salvaged parts from the city’s garbage dump. <br/>Kain only knew what Eli had taught him.<br/>When Kain complained about it to Brin, the alpha told him that his father had been a carpenter!</p>
<p>After that, their weeks got even more busier.<br/>Brin worked six days at the docks, but doble shift only half of the time.<br/>The seventh day, and the evenings he only worked one shift, he spent hours upon hours in the backyard behind the shop, where Eli had put up a temporary roof made of a tarp.<br/>Kain split his time between working at the shop, searching for the parts they needed, and bought the rest of the stuff needed for their babies.<br/>And planning their journey away from Baltran.<br/>Because they where not staying here longer than they had to, he would not expose his kids for this kind of life.<br/>The bad air, the constant noise, the lack of nature, and the dark side of the city.<br/>Baltran was not divided like Aram was, but the dream of a new and better life could quickly turn out to a nightmare if you where unlucky.<br/>The dark alleys hid addicts and homeless, beaten down souls that survived on begging and petty theft.<br/>Not the safe environment Kain wanted for their kids!</p>
<p>Brin hated Baltran and wanted to leave after the first week.<br/>But traveling was not for free, they would need supplies and the means to transport it, and ideally a buffer to make starting over in a new place easier.<br/>Arriving here without enough money to even buy the most necessary things, like food and clothes and the basin for Cy, learned them that.<br/>Since they had left most of their personal assets before the crossed the desert made it even harder.<br/>And even if it was planed a trip to go back with a guide and proper transportation soon, they still needed clothes before that.<br/>With Brin working doble shift at the docks, and being very strict with what they had, they made it through the first couple of weeks.<br/>They had soon decided that they wanted to leave, preferably before their baby was born, so Brin continues to work doble shift to save up as much money as they can.</p>
<p>Its as Kain and Cy is leaving the shop for the day, that he hears shouts and panicked noises coming from the right.<br/>People are running by, and turning his head, he sees dark smoke coming up over the roofs.<br/>There is a fire!<br/>Clutching his little boy close, he backs up against the wall behind him so that he’s not in the way.<br/>He can see the flames now, the noises coming closer and closer.<br/>Bells ringing to his left makes him turn that way, seeing a huge wagon driving by, filled with barrels of water and a couple of ladders.<br/>He can understand that bringing the water to the fire like that would be helpful, but there is no way it will be enough.<br/>The buildings here are tall, made of wood, and standing far too close.<br/>Fear runs down his spin, will the whole city burn down now?<br/>Will he and Cy survive or are their death coming?<br/>And what of Brin and the rest of his friends?<br/>He knows the men working in the dock is on their way home now, and the fire are between him and the dock.<br/>It’s not before cy starts whimpering that he realizes that he is holding his breath, and that the smoke is filling the air.<br/>Letting out a shaky breath, he hurries to start the breather to help his little boy.<br/>But he doesn’t manage to walk away, both because walking while using the breather is difficult, but also because his legs refuse to work.<br/>The shouting and screaming are getting louder, he can feel the air growing warmer, and he can’t look away from the flames dancing in the air behind the third building on his right.<br/>It’s coming closer, probably just minutes away from here now, and then someone is grabbing him and pulling him the other way.<br/>“we have to get away from here”  <br/>Eli is urging him to move, following the crowd now running away in stead of towards the fire.<br/>More bells ringing tells him that more wagons with water is coming, but will that be enough?<br/>Only time will tell.</p>
<p>The two of them doesn’t stop running before they can’t hear the commotion anymore, Kain leaning against a wall and trying to catch his breath.<br/>It’s first now that he feels how tired he is, all the stamina he got from their travels gone.<br/>Or maybe it’s all the weight he has gained, the weight Cy has gained, and the breather hanging over his shoulder.<br/>Either way, his legs gives up, and he slides down the wall until he’s sitting on the ground.<br/>Cy is just looking up at him quietly, but it doesn’t look like he is having trouble breathing, so that’s good.<br/>They are surrounded by brick buildings now, in the richer part of Baltran, hiding in an alley out of sight.  <br/>He doesn’t know how long they stay there in the alley, CY falling asleep and his breath long since normal again, but the sounds never comes their way.<br/>After the sun has set and they are surrounded by the dark, three jogs past the alley, before one of the stops and comes back.<br/>Kain feels fear sneaking back, but soon see that it’s Brin.<br/>Jumping into his arms, he cries and cries, holding on tight.<br/>The alpha is covered in soot and sweat, but unharmed and there.<br/>Rhys and Alex, which was the other two that had come running, also looks relieved at seeing them.<br/>They had found Narin, Faray and Jak was safe, the last one with minor burns on one arm and the other two unharmed.<br/>All three of them had helped in fighting the fire, which had eaten up almost twelve buildings before they had managed to put it out.</p>
<p>Many people lost their lives that night, and a lot had lost their homes. <br/>Just one building was left between the burned down area and the house they all lived in.<br/>How Cy was going to take living there now, Kain didn’t want to think about right now.<br/>He would have to clean the whole place the next day, and hope that was enough.</p>
<p>They spent the rest of the night huddled close in that alley, covered in a few blankets Rhys had gotten them from somewhere.<br/>A small camp was evidently set up to help the ones that lost their homes, but there was no way close to enough beds there. <br/>The next day it felt like entering a whole new world when they walked into their street, sot and debris all around, some smoke still coming from the piles that one day earlier was houses.<br/>It was scary to se.<br/>But life had to go on, and soon their life was back to normal.<br/>Kain didn’t forget about the injured, the homeless and the ones that lost their loved ones, but they still had a deadline to reach.<br/>And the sooner they were ready to leave, the sooner their room was free for someone else to move into.</p>
<p>For each week, Kain’s bump grew bigger, his body complaining about all the work he does, reminding them both of their tight schedule.      <br/>In addition to working on the wagon and getting all the necessary supplies, Kain also tries to prepare for the birth.<br/>At first, they thought having the baby here in Baltran, with doctors and nurses working in appropriate buildings called hospitals would be smart.<br/>But after hearing stories of the crowded hospitals and contagious infections running freely there, Kain felt delivering the baby by themselves was better.<br/>He bought a couple of books, and befriended an old male omega living in the neighboring house, who had three grown kids of his own.<br/>So, most of the days, Kain felt happy with the plan to have only Brin helping him deliver their baby.<br/>And on the days he didn’t feel all that confident about it, he tried to drown himself in his work.<br/>Even if it felt like it took them forever, after about one month of working themselves ragged, the new wagon was ready.<br/>Brin had to sell his old horse what they first arrived here, since they didn’t have any place to keep him, so now they had to buy a new one.<br/>They still didn’t have a place for the horse, so the day before they planned to leave Baltran behind, Brin went out to a farm close to the city to buy one.<br/>Ginger, the horse, spent the night in the backyard where the wagon was built, and early the next morning Kain hugged Eli good by.<br/>Most of the group the had arrived with, had split of and found their new life, but a few of them had gone out for a good by- dinner the night before.<br/>Three moths after arriving the city, and a month and a half before they baby was due to be born, they left.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0026"><h2>26. Chapter 26</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>26.</p>
<p>The frame of the wagon shine brightly in the sun, the built-in shock absorber smoothing out the ride so that they almost don’t feel the holes and small rocks they roll over.<br/>Brin’s woodwork is gorgeous, the frame painted in tar to make it last longer, giving it a dark brown color.<br/>The seat up front even have a small padding made of soft leather, it feels like sitting on a comfortable bench.<br/>And behind the front seat, two small cots where strapped in place with leather belts, a safe place for their babies during the journey.<br/>When they stop for the nights, the belt can be opened, so that they can bring the cots inside their tent.<br/>To keep the sun from shining directly on the children, another tarp is attached on top of the wagon, with movable walls to adjust to the weather.<br/>Even if they hadn’t decided for sure where they wanted to make their home, in Gothr, Brin’s hometown or somewhere in between, they knew it would probably be cold before they got there.<br/>It’s falls again, one year since Kain left his family, and they are traveling towards colder areas.<br/>To access the storage rooms, Brin had made small hatches on both sides in addition to the back.<br/>Dry food directly below the cots, pots and pans to the left looking from behind, and clothes and other assets to the right.<br/>Their tent and sleeping pads where fastened behind the cots, making the whole thing organized and easy. <br/>Kain is really happy with the result, loving their wagon and their handywork.<br/>It’s new sitting on the front seat all day, but he has to admit that it would have been too hard to walk, this close to the birth.<br/>Their new horse is used to drag a huge wagon, mostly used to shipping merchandise to and from Baltran, and is thriving in his new job.<br/>Even with traveling all day, he gains some weight and his thick coat shines healthy.</p>
<p>Leaving Baltran from a different angle, they don’t cross the desert at all, instead they cross through a forest unlike anything Kain have ever seen before.<br/>The air is warm and humid, deep green bushes with huge leaves almost touch the ground, other bushes with their leaves curled up almost like small cups, full of delicious water every morning.<br/>Trees taller than he have ever seen, bare trunks going up and up until branches filled heavy with leaves blocking out both the sun and the rain.<br/>Breathing the humid air is strange in the beginning, but strangely enough it’s like Cy’s lungs prefers it like this.<br/>He hasn’t needed his breather since they had entered the forest, and that had been eight days ago.</p>
<p>The forest is filled with animals, birds singing day and night, some animals climbing the trees like they where stuck to them, other hiding behind the bushes on the ground.<br/>During the nights, insects still flew around buzzing, making background noise that soon lulled Kain to sleep.<br/>But they have to close their tent tight, because the bugs stings and bites, and that itches all day long.<br/>Kain finds some ginseng in his bag, that he boils in water until he gets a thin mixture they can put on the worst of them, but he isn’t sure of how healthy it is in high doses, especially for Cy.<br/>At daytime it’s better, but Brin finds some super thin fabric that doesn’t stop the air and fastens it over Cy’s cot.<br/>The animals climbing the trees have what looks like long arms and legs, and somehow reminds Kain of some of the humans he has met in his life.<br/>When they open their big mouths and makes a kind of cackling sound, it looks like they are laughing.<br/>That makes Kain laugh, which makes Cy laugh, and all in all the days are great.</p>
<p>After spending ten days in this forest, they leave it behind.<br/>Lush meadows are soon replaced with fields filled with crocked trees laden with fruit of different kinds.<br/>People harvesting smiles and waves, and an hour later they enter a small village.<br/>Deciding that they want to stay there over night, Kain’s whole body aching from sleeping on the thin sleeping pad, they ask if it’s possible to rent a room for the night.      <br/>It turns out that an old lady, miss Cici, have a spare room they can stay in.<br/>She even invites them to dinner, and they end up talking long into the night.<br/>The woman is the village healer, although she has been teaching a young girl for the last couple of year, to take over the responsibility when she gets too old.<br/>She says she’s only 77 years young, but that it’s time to pass on the knowledge now.<br/>And she is the only one that dares ask the question all of then wants the answer too, how come they already have a small baby when it’s obvious that there would soon be another.<br/>After explaining what happened to Cy’s birthmother, and Kain admitting that Melody’s birth had scared him, miss Cici spends time calming both Kain and Brin about what they soon would go through.<br/>Even with all the books Kain had read in Baltran, he fears complications and what to do if they occur.<br/>Miss Cici goes through the most likely complications, and what they should do if they happen, giving them both the tools, they need to calm down and feel prepared. </p>
<p>They end up spending another two nights with miss Cici, since Cy falls ill with a fever.<br/>It turns out to just be his first tooth breaking through, but with the boy screaming like he is dying for hours each night, the extra rest is needed.<br/>When the tooth shows itself, they say good by and goes on their way.<br/>They are traveling with a deadline, and Kain wants to be closer to Gothr before the baby is born.<br/>He doesn’t know why, but something tells him to go to his childhood home.<br/>Brin doesn’t mind, so they decide that they at least will stop by, just to make sure everything there is okay.</p>
<p>The next couple of weeks, they travel through dense forests and narrow valleys, the days becoming shorter and nights colder.<br/>It’s strange to see how the nature changes, from the warmth and green forest in the beginning, to the sparse greenery in the valleys, to forests filled of pine and spruce.<br/>They don’t see a lot of people while the travel, the route they are taking going further away from settlements and cities.<br/>Since they are traveling faster than they had done with the pilgrims, and since they are only a small family, they don’t need to buy new supplies very often.<br/>But after a month, the need for some vegetables and some herbs Kain wants to have ready for the birth makes them veer of their route and head for Sana.<br/>And then they could follow the route they had used last year from there on, except when it comes to Vito. <br/>There was shortcut they could take that kept them well away from the city, too narrow to use with the old wagon, but with their new one it would not be a problem. <br/>Being equipped with proper maps makes it easier to both stay on their route and change it to fit their needs. <br/>Kain remember when they had entered Sana the last time, he remembers the fear of The Snatchers, and he remember the silk.<br/>The silk Brin must have bought here, and then had sewn into his favorite shirt!<br/>He hadn’t been able to use that shirt for months, his bump to big, and he couldn’t wait to wear it again.<br/>Maybe they could be some more fabric now, he’s sure he could find place for a couple of rolls somewhere in the wagon.<br/>And maybe some soft fabrics for the babies?<br/>There could never be to much blankets and clothes for the little ones...<br/>But then again, using all their money on silk and the finest cotton was probably not wise.</p>
<p>The village looks the same as it had last year, the people happy to see them and the marked cozy.<br/>After buying some carrots and some potatoes, some dried garlic and tomatoes, Kain approaches the stall with herbs.<br/>Some of the herbs had particular strong smells, ones that had bothered him earlier in the pregnancy, but that now just brings back memories of his garden back in Gothr.<br/>After buying what they came to get, Kain was pulled over to the stall with fabric.<br/>They end up with one roll of green silk, and one roll of soft yellow baby cotton as the man calls it, and paying far too little for it.<br/>He had recognized them when they had wandered around the marked, and was so happy to se Kain pregnant.         <br/>The baby in the sling over Brin’s chest confuses him a little, but a simple explanation of them taking him in when his mother couldn’t care for him gave them two small blankets for free.<br/>After drinking a cup of coffee with some of the locals, they go on their way.<br/>The clock was ticking, and Gothr to far away.<br/>And more important, the birth close by.   </p>
<p>It baffles Kain how fast they get to the area where they had ones sat their war-camp.<br/>In less than six weeks, they have traveled back to a place that they used more than eight months going the other way.<br/>Even with the help of their new wagon, and none of them needing to walk, it’s clear that having the right information and the right routes meant a lot.<br/>And Kain is so relieved, his baby now very ready to leave his bump.<br/>He has been heaving strong Braxton contractions for the last few days, his feet are swollen, and the bump itself hanging low.<br/>It would no be long now, before he’s in labor.<br/>A little fear and regret of leaving Baltran before their baby is born fizzles down his spine, before it’s gone again.<br/>They had to get Cy out of there, so his lungs had a change to heal and get stronger.<br/>And with the long conversations Kain had with the miss Cici, he knew he would manage it with only Brin’s help.<br/>Breathing out slowly through his nose, working through the contractions, he thinks maybe the are for real now and not the Braxton ones.<br/>He keeps it to himself for now, not to scare his alpha, they still have lots of time before they need to stop.</p>
<p>A couple of hours later, there’s no way Brin haven’t caught on.<br/>When they suddenly find themselves outside a familiar cottage, Kain laughs high.<br/>The sound doesn’t only wake up Cy, that starts to cry, but also alert the man inside the cottage and makes him come outside.<br/>After taking a closer look at the strangers in his front yard, the man gives a wry smile and shakes his head.<br/>“I can’t believe it.<br/>Nine months later, and you show up with the omega in labor!”<br/>Brin grins back, puffing out his chest like he’s proud of himself.<br/>The sound of the baby crying in Brin’s arms confuses the man, but at that point Kain’s contraction is over, so he gets out of the wagon and offers his hand to the owner of the cottage.<br/>“hi, I’m Kain, Brin is holding our adoptive son Cy, and soon our second child will be born...<br/>Are there a place near by where I can give birth, so that I doesn’t have to do it outdoors?”<br/>The man ushers them inside the cottage, insisting that he himself would go over to his neighbor, and leave the cottage to them.<br/>“it must be fate, me lending your alpha my home to care for you during your heat, and now you are going to deliver the child made right here, in the same bed.”<br/>Kain is sitting on a chair feeding Cy even before the man is finished talking, hoping the boy will sleep through the whole ordeal.<br/>He got used to a lot of noise back in Baltran, after all…         <br/>The contractions are coming faster and lasting longer, making it clear that this birth is well on it’s way.<br/>Brin is putting a tarp on top of the bed, no reason the destroy the mattress, a birth gets messy.<br/>Soon Kain walks back and forth inside the cottage, breathing hard and whining low in his throat.<br/>When the contractions come, he hangs over Brin’s shoulders growling and panting. <br/>Hours goes by, and he wonders how Melody managed to keep quiet for so long.<br/>There is no way he can stay silent now, when his intestines are trying to come out off his ass!</p>
<p>When Cy wakes up again, he manages to stay calm enough that the little boy manages to fill his stomach.<br/>It’s almost as if the contractions calm down a little when the little one is feeding, but as soon as Brin takes him away for a change and hopefully more sleep, they come back stronger and last even longer.<br/>After just a few minutes the need to push takes him by surprise, making him whine loud and move towards the bed.<br/>He almost reaches the bed before a new contraction comes, forcing to his knees.<br/>Strong arms help him the last bit, so he ends up laying on his side, facing away from the alpha.<br/>As his pants is pulled of, his water brakes.<br/>Why hadn’t he taken those of before now?<br/>He would be angry at himself; the pants have to be cleaned now, but it’s all forgotten in the here and now.<br/>And here and now, all that counts are the baby coming out of him right now!<br/>Luckily, Brin’s ready even if he isn’t, and their little baby is safe in his hands.<br/>Carefully rolling over on his back, he gets the little one on his chest.<br/>Black hair and deep blues eyes, ten fingers and ten toes, their little girl is perfect.<br/>Cy, at the tender age of five months, have become big brother to little Levi.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0027"><h2>27. Chapter 27</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>27.</p>
<p>It surprises Kain to see just how much bigger their daughter is then what Cy was when he was born.  <br/>To see the two of them laying side by side on the bed with him, little Levi is almost the same size as Cy.<br/>With being born about two months too early and having poor lungs, he knew the boy was smaller than normal for his age, but he didn’t know just how small.<br/>Another thing that’s strikingly different with the two, is their looks.<br/>Cy have light blue eyes, pale skin and light brown hair falling in soft curls around his face, while Levi have deep blue eyes, lightly tan skin and black hair.<br/>Kain feels drained and beaten after the birth, the thought of climbing onto the wagon makes him a little nauseous.<br/>But after a couple of days, the need to get to Gothr becomes too strong, and they leave the cottage behind.<br/>Between changing the babies and seeing to Kain’s every need, Brin have spent the days chopping wood and fixing other things to prepare the cottage for the winter.<br/>When the owner comes back to check on them, finding his roof patched and his windows sealed and a pot of stew waiting over the fire, he almost cries.<br/>But it’s the least they could doo, after occupying his home two times in a year, forcing him to leave the place to strangers.<br/>The man is limping, and his back is crocked, he would probably have problems fixing his roof by himself.</p>
<p>After several hugs and cooing over the two small ones, they leave the man behind.<br/>Even with the padding on the front seat, it hurts Kain to sit on it for too long, but Brin just pull out the sleeping pad and makes a bedding between the cots for him.<br/>It’s obvious than the man had thought of this when the wagon was built, and it makes Kain smile thinking of his fantastic alpha and fiancé.   <br/>Even with the daybed, Kain doesn’t manage to go for a full day, taking a longer break in the middle of the day, and setting camp much earlier.<br/>But even with short days, four days later they are entering the shortcut to sneak past Vito.<br/>The shortcut turns out to be very narrow in places, dense forest filled with dark green trees looming over them.<br/>The weather is getting cold too, the ground frozen over with a thin layer of ice every morning.<br/>Kain fights to eat and drink enough to have milk for both his children, even if Cy are five months old, he doesn’t eat solid foods yet.<br/>They have tried with pureed carrot, but he just retches.<br/>Melody’s drug use and the early birth not helping with the boy’s development, but with time he would get there.<br/>In the meantime, Kain feels like he has a baby sucking at his breast all the time.<br/>He drinks lots of water, and a disgusting tea that supposedly help with the amount of milk being produced, but it’s hard.</p>
<p>Drained and tired all day, waking up to feed his babies three or four times a night, makes a grumpy Kain.<br/>So, when the trees suddenly give way to a clearing looking over a quiet little pond, three days after they entered the forest, Brin decides they should take an early night.<br/>The sun is shining on a piece of grass close to the water, the last of the autumn showing it’s self.<br/>There are no leaf trees at this of the pond, but on the other side deep reds, vibrant yellows and every color in between fills their eyes.<br/>Building a firepit and starting a fire before laying down a thick blanket, the alpha makes it feel like some kind of picnic.<br/>Even if the smoked fish and fresh bums is switched out with a stew made of deer and dried vegetables, the feeling is the same.<br/>They spend several hours there on the blanket, pulling another one over their backs, just soaking in the quiet and the calming view.<br/>Even the kids are calm, Cy rolling over against his sister and cuddling with her.<br/>It’s cute to see the boy reaching for his sister every time the stay close, grabbing her hand and cooing at her.<br/>Levi is too young to roll over of course, but she turns his head towards her brother and just watch him.<br/>With full stomachs and surrounded by a blanket smelling of both their parents, they fall asleep between them with their faces almost touching.</p>
<p>As the sun goes down, more blankets are burying Kain, as Brin puts up the tent and places the kids in their cots inside.<br/>Feeding the fire more, the two of them curl up together looking at the stars.<br/>Their communications have been getting better and better, to the point that if there is a word the other doesn’t understand, they manage to explain what it means to the other.<br/>And that’s how Kain finds out that Brin loves star gazing.<br/>He knows the names of all the constellations and can point out several single stars that isn’t part of any of them.<br/>He learns Kain how to use the stars to recognize where they are and therefore where they should go to get to where they want to be.<br/>He even tells him fairytales about the stars that he was told as a child, little stories that Kain silently decide that their children will be thought.<br/>They have already started to learn Cy signs together with the verbal language, with signing what they are saying to him at the same time.<br/>It’s far too soon for him to understand, so now it’s mostly for the benefit of the grown-ups to make it a habit.<br/>Always signing at the same time as he is talking is new to Kain and trying to communicate with children is new to them both.<br/>But they are determined to make sure that Brin and the children can talk to each other from the start.         </p>
<p>Kain is almost asleep leaning against Brin when the alpha more or less carries him to the tent.<br/>The next thing he knows, is the sun brightening up the tent, and panicking he checks the babies.<br/>But they are sleeping soundly, for the first time since Levi was born, they both slept through the night.<br/>Kain himself feel like he has slept for a week, after leaving the tent to relieve himself he realizes that no part of his body aches.<br/>At least not as bad as it has been since long before the birth.<br/>With a smile, he gets the fire going, and start with breakfast.</p>
<p>It takes another three days before they leave the forest behind, and Kain believes the term shortcut was a little misleading.<br/>But he doesn’t complain, they have left Vito behind, and are now on their way to his home village.<br/>It’s still a long way there, he thinks they used more than two months from Gothr to Vito.<br/>He doesn’t remember them passing through a lot of settlements on their way, but as they travel along it’s clear that they had.<br/>Small villages and towns shows themselves almost every day, but they don’t stop at any of them.<br/>The need to get to Gothr is growing, and the want of sleeping in a bed and staying in one place for a longer period of time is making itself known.<br/>It’s strange actually, Kain can’t remember the last time he longed for settling down, not even the last weeks before they arrived at Baltran.</p>
<p>As the days go by, the new routines fall in place.<br/>The kids are feeding one after another, and then it takes three to four hours until the next time Kain needs to free his breasts.<br/>He still has to feed ones during the nights, sometimes Levi feeds two times, but with them both sleeping and getting hungry at the same time, it makes it easier for Kain to rest in between.<br/>Slowly, he produces enough milk for them both, without having to work for it, which reduces the stress even more.<br/>They need to stop by a small town, buying fabric and getting help to make another sling, so that both of the babies can get some cuddles during the days.<br/>Cy is so old now, that he needs more than just laying down in his cot looking up at the roof all day long.<br/>They try to let them play together every morning and evening, laying on a blanket, but it’s beginning to get cold and with all the wiggling Cy is doing any blanket tucked around him soon flies away...<br/>More or less.<br/>They will have to find someone that can sew some warmer clothes for them, none of them able to do it themselves...<br/>Didn’t he one time shake his head over the need of getting someone else to sew stuff?</p>
<p>Kain is embarrassed of several things he thought back then, it feels like much longer ago than just one year.<br/>Was it just one year ago that he wandered around in his garden wondering what life could give him?<br/>Feeling lost just because nobody came to him to give him a meaning of life, not ones thinking that it was up to him to find something.<br/>And had it not been for that sick woman making the pilgrims come through the village, and their leaders being the same people that freed him from the quarry, he would still be wandering his garden feeling sorry for himself.<br/>Luckily, he left, and soon he found meaning in how much he could give to others.<br/>He understood what life could bring, if you just went looking.<br/>And here he was, with a wonderful fiancé and two small children, sitting in a wagon he had invented himself, and that he and Brin had made.<br/>Even if life had been hard at times, giving him grief and fear, what he gained are so much more.<br/>All of this is running through his head while they walk around the marked waiting for the sling to be done, and he doesn’t realize how lost in his head he have been before Brin waves a hand in front of his eyes.<br/>Looking up at the alpha, he finds the man smiling and shaking his head a little.<br/>He then points at a stall where they sell sweets, silently asking if Kain wanted some.<br/>During his pregnancy he couldn’t get enough sweets, but it doesn’t tempts him that way now.<br/>They buy some anyway, Brin secretly love dark chocolate and would be sneaking it when he thinks Kain doesn’t see.</p>
<p>A scream wakes him up the next morning, and it’s not Cy or Levi screaming.<br/>Brin is up and running even before Kain have opened his eyes fully, another scream sending chills down his spine.<br/>That’s the sound of a human in pain fearing for it’s life.<br/>After checking the surrounding area, he hurries to fasten the cots to the wagon, desperately hoping that the babies won’t wake up.<br/>He’s breathing hard, his heart beating rapidly, and he doesn’t know what to do.<br/>Wrapping blankets around the cots to keep the kids warm, he looks for dangers that may come out of the semi dark around them, the sun not fully up yet.<br/>After what feels like hours, but probably is just minutes, Brin comes back.<br/>He is not alone; a young girl is laying limp in his arms.<br/>It gives Kain flashback to the time they found a victim of the Snatchers, not calming him down at all.<br/>But the girl in Brin’s arms are not covered in blood, and as they come close, Kain sees that she is breathing.<br/>None the less, the similarity to the two crazy murders from Wilder is striking.<br/>Pulling the sleeping pad out from the tent, they then put the girl down so Kain can check her over.<br/>She has some shallow wounds that makes Kain even more sure of who attacked her, but none of them is life threatening.<br/>Covering her with a blanket to keep her warm, there is not much they can do before she wakes up.</p>
<p>A duet of I’m hungry comes from the wagon, the babies takes up Kain’s time for a while.<br/>Just as he handles Cy over to his father, after putting Levi back to sleep, the girl starts waking up.<br/>Whimpering and shaking her head back and forth, the girl then sits up straight and looks wildly around herself.<br/>Kain holds up his arms showing her that he isn’t a treat, he slowly moves closer.<br/>After telling her that she is safe, and asking her what happened, they know for sure who’s around.<br/>When all three of them have eaten a simple breakfast and packed up their camp, they follow the girl back to where her village lays.<br/>They arrive after a couple of hours and are soon surrounded by the locals.<br/>As far as they know, this is the first time a victim of the snatchers has survived, but that had been one year ago.<br/>Brin had even seen their backs when they ran away, right on time to save the girl.<br/>Jessie, as her name is, are bundled up in the arms of her family, while Kain tries to explain what had happened.<br/>It was not as easy as it sounds like, with two babies screaming for food, and Brin not being able to tell anything since he is mute.<br/>But they manage even if it takes some time, their audience growing as the rumors of what had happened spread around.<br/>They are ushered over to the center of the village, where a huge firepit is lit, and what looks like a full-blown party is in the making.<br/>With a baby each looking around from their slings, they are more or less dragged down in a couple of soft chairs close to the fire.<br/>The rest of the night is spent eating one delicious dish after another, cooing over the children, hugs from relieved relatives, laughter and song.<br/>Kain refuses the wine sent around, not feeling comfortable drinking when he breastfed, but Brin is not that lucky.<br/>So, the next morning, when Kain wakes up to a smiling Cy happily babbling, the sound of reaching is heard from outside.</p>
<p>After taking care of the babies and himself, he starts breakfast.<br/>Brin is sitting in the shadow, holding his head in his hand, whimpering now and then.<br/>Laughing, he makes the alpha some tea that could help him, even if it’s just placebo.<br/>The alpha decides to walk that day, trying to clear his head and calm his stomach, making it a slow day for Kain.<br/>Which they all enjoys, the horse stopping to gras now and then, Cy sitting up in Kain’s lap laughing and babbling until he gets tired.<br/>When it’s time for the children’s mid day snack, they all takes a break in the sun.<br/>Kain can still feel the sun warming his face, but the temperature is steadily dropping now.<br/>As a thank you from the family and friends of Jessie, they now had three thick and soft furs, one inside each cot, and one on top of the front seat.<br/>Kain hadn’t even thought about getting furs for the little ones but decides to enjoy the extra warmth instead of beating himself for not thinking of it.<br/>He’s not used to using fur growing up, so how was he supposed to think of that?<br/>During the nights, they put the third fur over the cots standing close together, really cocooning the babies in fur.</p>
<p>Brin finally work through his hangover, and they can continue at their normal speed the next day.<br/>Kain can feel they are getting close now, he remembers seeing this route from last year, but it’s more then that.<br/>It’s like the need burning in the back of his head are louder, but at the same time calmer.<br/>A strange feeling, but he can fight it, and it’s only Brin’s insistence that stops him from traveling day and night.<br/>But his alpha forces him to take breaks to eat, to play with the babies, and to sleep full nights.<br/>Luckily.<br/>When he manages to pull his thoughts away from his home village, he wonders if the Snatchers are back behind bars, how Liza are doing in Baltran, if Jak are pregnant and if Eli remembers to eat.<br/>All the friends he made this last year, Cyrus, Rhys, Melody, and Eli.<br/>How much he has learned from them, and how much they have learned from him.<br/>Even if he longs to settle down in the near future, he knows deep down that they would take time from their day to day live to go traveling again at a later date.</p>
<p>Cy have been fuzzing during the nights for a short week now, probably another tooth, so he and Brin have been taking turns to grab a nap during their break in the middle of the day.<br/>Today it’s Kain’s turn, his dreams filled with shadows and moaning and crying.<br/>A scream in a familiar voice makes him wake up in a panic, but there is nothing dangerous around.<br/>Both the babies are sleeping, curled up close on a blanket, and Brin is sitting quietly by the small fire drinking some tea.<br/>It must have been in his dream, but why was the voice so familiar?</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Only one chapter left of this part!<br/>I hope some of you will continue to read the next parts, not everything is said and done yet!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0028"><h2>28. Chapter 28</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>This is it, guys!<br/>The last chapter of part one it here...</p>
<p>For the next weeks, small short stories connected to the main story will be posted.<br/>I will post one twice a week, to give my self time to write the second part, in the hopes that at least most of that part is done when the time comes to post it.</p>
<p>I hope you all have liked this so far, and that you will continue to like my writing.<br/>And, kudos, comments and bookmarking will bring me joy!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>28.</p>
<p>When they arrive the village, it’s clear that something is wrong.<br/>No children are running around, and the few people Kain sees are hurrying by with their heads down.<br/>It makes his stomach ache, and he pulls Cy sleeping in his sling closer.<br/>He direct Brin towards the farm, past empty houses and poorly kept crops.<br/>This is not the village he had left a little over a year ago, bustling with new life.<br/>As the approach the farm, Jack comes out from the barn.<br/>The man, no longer a boy, looks ten years older than the last time Kain saw him.<br/>His face is blank, not showing any feelings, before he recognizes Kain.<br/>Then he breaks out in a big grin, before it vanishes as fast as it came.<br/>“Kain, it’s good to see you!<br/>But what are you doing here? <br/>Haven’t you heard?”<br/>Obviously, either Kain or Brin have heard anything on their hurry here, but the dread in Kain’s stomach doubles.<br/>Then Rosa comes running out of the house, throwing herself at Kain, making Cy cry out.<br/>The woman jumps back, only now seeing the sling Kain wears, and then looking over to see Brin picking up Levi from her cot.<br/>She had woken up when Cy cried out, so now the both of them make a lot of noise.<br/>Kain smiles and looks up at Rosa to introduce his alpha and his children, but the pale face meeting him makes him swallow his words.<br/>His sister is scared, or more like terrified, and a quick glance over to his brother in law showed that he too is scared.<br/>“what’s going on? What have happened here?”</p>
<p>Tears starts falling down Rosa’s face, and if Kain hadn’t been sure that they needed to come here before, he certainly is sure now.<br/>“some months ago, a young couple came here.<br/>The woman was heavily pregnant, and looked a little sickly, so the doctor took her in.<br/>After the baby was born, the woman died, leaving the father alone.<br/>But only a few days after that, the little girl fell ill herself, and before she was a week old, she too died.<br/>The father left a note saying he was sorry, that they thought they had left the curse behind, and then hang himself.<br/>Since then, more and more children have fallen ill, and a lot of them have died.<br/>The ones that lives, spends month after month in bed, couching and struggling to breath.<br/>I lost my boy two weeks ago, his twin sister still holding on, but I don’t think it’s for much longer.”</p>
<p>Kain shares a look with Brin, hands Cy over to the man, before he hurries to dig out the breather.<br/>The boy hadn’t needed it since they left the village where Cici lived, but they still kept it ready for use.<br/>“show me your daughter”<br/>Rosa tries to tell him that they needed to leave before the curse got a hold of their children as well, but Kain doesn’t listen.<br/>Walking into the little living room, he sees a cot in a corner, and the noises he could hear from it brings back the feeling when Cy stopped breathing in the desert.<br/>He doesn’t see any of the others sitting in the room, just picks up the girl and place the breather over her face.<br/>Shortly after starting the gadget, the girl’s cough disappears, and she calms down.<br/>He takes a deep breath when the treatment is finished for now, the girl sleeps in his arms, breathing normally.<br/>He remembers talk about a lung disease that made small children deadly ill, but Eli said that they should survive if they only got help with their breathing.<br/>The damage to the lungs should be temporary, and all it took to stop the infection from spreading was cleaning the patients and everything they had been close to with a simple mixture every healer and doctor should know.<br/>“where is the doctor now?”<br/>Kain can hear the anger in his voice, but he can’t stop himself.<br/>He finds out that the doctor had left after telling everyone that there where noting to do for the children, which made Brin, that just entered, growl.<br/>After calming down both his alpha, and the people scared by him, he orders one of his younger sisters to fetch the herbs he needs from his garden.<br/>He knows that the garden probably is a mess now, but the herbs he needs is thriving in the wild and would have taken over the place.<br/>Rosa puts a large pot of water over the fire to heat up to a boil, while Jack volunteers to gather up every child that is sick at the moment.<br/>Nobody asks for any explanation, seeing the anger in Kain’s face and seeing the little girl sleeping soundly in her cot is enough for them.</p>
<p>It soon becomes clear that the number of sick children is astonishing.<br/>To help them all through the sickness, they need to be in the same place, which would also make it easier for the adults to clean out their houses and linens and everything else that needed to be cleaned.<br/>It is total chaos.<br/>They need a place big enough for them all, and preferable one that isn’t already contaminated.<br/>Grown-ups would also get the sickness, but they don’t really become sick from it, just passes it to their children.<br/>So, the children, plus their caretakers, would have to be hold in isolation until the decease is gone from the village.<br/>Which would take a minimum of three weeks…<br/>A man mentions that the old restaurant had been closed for months now, and that the main room there would be big enough to hold all the children.<br/>So, as Kain push the breather to the max, giving the sickest children the help they acutely need for the moment, some men hurry to the restaurant to prepare cots and beds for the children.<br/>At the same time, Rosa learns the women how to clean everything, and how to make the mixture they would need to clean with, before they are sent home.     <br/>The mixture Rosa has made already is transported to the restaurant, minus what she needs herself of course.<br/>Kain have never been more thankful for his sisters quick thinking and ability to learn, then now.<br/>It’s not before everything is set up and the now cleaned children lays in their beds, that Kain realizes that he too needs to stay isolated.<br/>With his alpha in an unknown place where nobody can understand him, and two small babies that needs their mother’s milk.<br/>He sits down hard on a chair, breath caught in his lungs and tears filling his eyes.<br/>What will happen to his babies?<br/>Will they get sick too?<br/>Cy would probably not survive a sickness like this.<br/>What have they done?</p>
<p>A cough makes him jump back up, and hurry over to the girl struggling to breath.</p>
<p>The next week, several more children gets sick, and they don’t have enough beds for everybody.<br/>Some of the smaller ones have to share, laying foot to foot in the bed.<br/>Kain stays awake the first night and through the next day, before the butcher’s wife forces him to learn a couple of them how to use the breather and sends him to bed.<br/>He realizes that he has lost his milk then, and cries silently into his pillow thinking about his babies.<br/>But there is too much to doo and not enough hands to do them, so he pushes his sorrow away.<br/>They loose two small babies during the first couple of days, but after that, everybody slowly gets better.<br/>Someone comes over with more mixture and food and water every day, helping the children back to health.<br/>And after that first week no more children come in.<br/>Kain doesn’t dare to ask if that is because there isn’t any more children left outside, or if no more got infected, but by the looks of the men and women he works with, he fears it’s the first.</p>
<p>Luckily, neither Cy or Levi have gotten sick, and he’s told that they are thriving and growing, getting breastmilk from his sister.<br/>After another week, the whole village is cleaned twice and most of the children are well enough to go home, and the workload lessen.<br/>But there are still a few sick ones, the ones that had been sick for the longest when Kain and Brin came, and he can’t bring himself to leave them.<br/>One of them is his little niece, she still needs help from the breather every day, and he isn’t sure if she will ever not need it anymore.<br/>He’s missing his babies so much it hurts and sleeping without Brin holding him close never gets easier.</p>
<p>Finally, after spending nearly four weeks in isolation, the last child can go home.<br/>Walking outside in the sun for the first time since the first day they came to Gothr, feels strange.<br/>But then he hears Cy crying out in joy, and soon small arms curls around his neck.<br/>Nothing can match that feeling, except then another little body leans close and strong arms holds them all together.<br/>He can’t stop the tears from falling, and he can feel Brin shaking too, but he knows that nothing could feel better than this.<br/>They stand like that for a long time, just holding each other close, until Levi makes a noise, he knows meant she’s hungry.<br/>New tears fall then, when he remembers that he can’t give her what she needs anymore, so when someone takes over the children he falls apart.<br/>He has not seen his kids for a month, his daughter has lived longer without him than with him, how can he make up for that…</p>
<p>It turns out that Brin and the kids have been put in the old doctor house, seeing as it has been empty for several months now.<br/>Since the babies are so young, they have tried to keep them away from the others in the village, only Rosa coming by with food to all three of them.<br/>She still has breastmilk, in spite of all the stress and sorrow, and made sure both Cy and Levi got some of it.<br/>Taking extra care to stay clean, she filled small bottles with milk directly from her breasts.<br/>Mixing it up with some goatmilk, which is supposedly better for babies than cowmilk, and closing it all with some special soft tops meant to feed babies with.<br/>And well fed they look, both longer and with those adorable round cheeks and plum stomachs.<br/>Kain isn’t sure if he’s more relived that they have grown so much or devastated that he hadn’t been there to see it.</p>
<p>It takes some days before Kain realize that most of the people that had moved to Gothr while he was at the quarry now are gone.<br/>When he asks his father about that, sitting at the pub nursing a beer each, the man tells him that most of them went back home when the Queen married the King of Taram.<br/>Kain looks at his father with a blank face.<br/>That did not make any sense to him.<br/>He says as much to his father, wondering if this is something he should have known.<br/>The laughter that rumbles out of the old men sitting around him takes him by surprise.<br/>His father shakes his head and says that Kain was always caught up in his own head and wouldn’t see things even if it hit him in the nose.<br/>Kain can’t deny that, so he laughs with them and then asks them to explain it all to him.</p>
<p>It turned out that for the last five years or so, the Queen of Mara and the King of Taram had spent their lives trying to outdo the other.<br/>Supposedly, the had meet at a ball and instantly hated each other.<br/>In the beginning, they had fought about who was prettier and who had the biggest entourage.<br/>Then the Queen doublet the number of people living with her in the castle, and the King doublet the number of guards guarding his castle.<br/>When the Queen then redecorated her castle, the King built himself a new one.<br/>And so on, and so on.<br/>This nonsense was costing the countries huge amounts of money, money the Queen didn’t have.<br/>Both royalties raised their taxes, demanded workers to drop what they where doing to come work on their castles or summer mansions or whatever.<br/>This resulted in poor, frustrated and hungry people wanting to escape the foolishness.<br/>Since it was the areas closest to the capital where the Queen lived that was affected the most, people had moved out to smaller places like Gothr.<br/>But then, about six months ago, the two enemies met again, and hate turned it to love.<br/>Two months later, and they where married.  <br/>Now, her younger brother was made a King, since she herself had moved to Taram.<br/>And the man was totally different from his sister.<br/>In those four months he had been King, most of the outlandish decorations was sold to pay down the debt.<br/>Money that the Queen had hidden in her vault was used for food and the means needed to make the next harvest as good as possible.<br/>Taxes was reduced by the half, giving every citizen the possibility to survive.<br/>Rumors said that the King himself was helping in rebuilding neglected houses so that people could move back in.<br/>But in Gothr, the only thing they noticed was all the new people leaving again.<br/>Some loved the quiet ones again, some mourned all the new and modern thing they had brought.<br/>But then the lung sickness came, and nobody thought more about what the King did or didn’t do.</p>
<p>As they are settling down, because they where settling down in Gothr, it’s clear that the former doctor’s house doesn’t fit their needs.<br/>Half the house is a treatment room, what should have been the living room is split up as an office and a waiting room.<br/>Why the doctor had thought a waiting room was necessary in a small village like this, when most of the time the doctor had to go out to his patients, is a mystery to Kain.<br/>All of this can be changed of course, but it feels like the wind blows right through the walls with how cold the house is.<br/>It’s also in the busiest part of the village, and even if that isn’t really busy, they both want more peace.<br/>Less people and more nature.<br/>Kain wants to be closer to his garden too, which he plans to take back to it’s glory in the spring.<br/>Brin wants to be close to the forest, having gotten the taste of woodwork when making the wagon.<br/>When Kain tells this to his brother in law, Jack reminds him of the old hunting cottage on the outskirt of the farm, right at the tree line.<br/>It had ones been in the middle of the forest, but as the village grew over the years, the trees had been replaced by fields of vegetables and grain.<br/>The next day, the small family drives their wagon out to said cottage, finding it better suited that the doctors fancy house.<br/>Which says more about the house then the cottage, but at least the thick trunk walls keeps the cold out.</p>
<p>After cleaning the whole thing from top to bottom, and fixing a small leak in the roof, they move in.<br/>Cy is now moving around on the floor, not quite crawling, but he gets to where he wants to go.<br/>Levi is babbling from her spot on her fur, a happy and calm child.<br/>Kain and Brin spends the cold winter months making plans for an expansion to the cottage, a huge shed for Brin’s woodwork, and a plan for rebuilding of Kain’s garden.<br/>It’s just a twenty-minute walk from the cottage to the old garden, but Kain have decided to move it closer.<br/>The forest would give a cover from the wind, and the sun would shine on the plot from early morning to late afternoon.<br/>People from the village is already coming to Kain for help, just like they had before he was kidnaped, the only difference is the way Kain meet them.<br/>The indifference from before is gone, leaving a caring and smiling healer behind.</p>
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